Riding an electric bicycle on busy sidewalks and in some other public rights-of way could now get you a ticket in El Segundo.
A new local law – and fines for violations – went into effect in El Segundo on Friday, Jan. 2, prohibiting e-bikes, off-highway motorcycles, motorized bicycles, pocket bikes, motorized scooters and “any other electric or motorized conveyance” from being ridden or operated on a sidewalk in any city business district, public park or recreation area.
The City Council approved the ordinance in late 2025, amending El Segundo’s previous e-bike rule to specifically ban those types of two-wheelers from certain landscapes.
The previous law only mentioned manually operated bicycles and other non-motorized wheeled vehicles, such as skateboards and in-line skates, being banned from sidewalks in areas like Smoky Hollow, the Rosecrans Corridor and Main Street in downtown; and public parks and recreation areas.
The new amendment, meanwhile, widens the ban, though it also exempts electric and motorized wheelchairs, and four-wheel mobility scooters.
Penalties for riding e-bikes in unsafe places have been a few years in the making.
Since 2023, the El Segundo Police Department has seen a significant increase in traffic crashes involving e-bikes, and community complaints about them have also risen, the city said in a Thursday, Jan. 1, announcement.
“The number one complaint that we’re getting from residents and that my officers are seeing on the streets,” ESPD Lt. Cory McEnrose said in a recent city e-bike safety update, “is these illegal, off-road electric motorcycles ridden on public roadways.”
E-bikes, definitionally, are always pedal assisted and can drive at speeds no more than 28mph, according to El Segundo’s website. Any e-bike that goes faster than that is not street legal and must stay off of roads, sidewalks and multiuse trails and paths, the website says.
To give the new law a backbone, the council also approved a new section in the city’s code that regulates the updated rules.
Some of those regulations include prohibiting people from riding electric and motor-powered bikes, scooters and motorcycles in an unsafe manner or while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and requiring passengers to be on a separate seat from the driver.
Penalties start at $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second within one year, and $500 for each additional violation within one year.
The El Segundo Police Department also recently rolled out an e-bike safety program with Center Street School, where elementary school students who plan to park their e-bikes on campus are required to attend a two-hour training course to register the vehicles. Students’ parents must also complete the training with their child, McEnrose said in the update.
