Joseph Ali stood outside his rental shop, Zack’s by the Beach, along the Huntington Beach oceanfront to point out unsafe e-bike riding.
Within two minutes, two teenagers rode past him at speeds he estimated at more than 30 mph.
An older rider veered unsteadily down the center of the walkway.
Ali had put up a 10-mph speed-limit sign – matching the city’s bicycle limit on sidewalks – with another that said “Slow” in neon-green letters.
“They don’t obey the rules, and it makes it difficult for others to enjoy the beach,” Ali said.
Across Southern California, e-bike popularity has soared, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic — with a disportionate number of young riders ignorant or ignoring the rules of the road, authorities say, leading to crashes and in some cases fatalities.
Joseph Ali readies electric bicycles at his shop, Zach’s Beach Rentals, near the pier in Huntington Beach in April 2021. Ali said e-bikes make up about half of his bike rental sales. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The U.S. Department of Energy reported that e-bike sales across the country in 2022, in the latest available data, eclipsed 1 million units for the first time — nearly four times the amount sold in 2019. Lawmakers and law enforcement officials have been scrambling to catch up and regulate the upgraded technology to improve public safety.
“It’s like cellphones,” said Jason Scheafer, an Irvine police motorcycle officer who oversees the agency’s e-bike training courses for the public. “It seems like we woke up one day and everyone had a flip phone. Then, a few years later, we were walking around with computers in our pockets.
“I remember the early days, people would be driving around and there were no cellphone laws, so it’s reasonable that the laws need to catch up with technology,” he said.
Troubling stats
The number of e-bike crashes in the state has drastically increased, according to California Highway Patrol data, from 48 reported e-bike crashes in 2020 to 1,366 reported in 2025. The numbers are likely higher, as the CHP depends on law enforcement agencies to report their data.
In Orange County alone, reported crashes went from 34 to 347. That included three deaths, two last year.
One of those occurred in August 2025 when 20-year-old Kolby Aipa, a surfer from Huntington Beach, was on an e-bike and hanging onto a pickup truck when the driver lost control and collided with him, authorities said.
Last year, a 12-year-old on an e-bike illegally modified to boost its speed capabilities ran a red light in Yorba Linda and was struck by a Honda Civic trying to avoid him, authorities said. He suffered a concussion, a skull fracture, a broken wrist and a fractured femur, said prosecutors, who filed a child-abuse case against the father. After the boy had received a prior citation for allegedly being on the bike, the dad and two sons attended a sheriff’s safety e-bike course.
In Los Angeles County, 273 e-bike crashes were reported for 2025 — nearly 100 more than the year prior — with two fatalities. Riverside and San Bernardino counties had a combined 139 crashes last year with one death; in 2024, there were 58 reported crashes.
The law
Under the California Vehicle Code, e-bikes are vehicles and must adhere to many of the same laws as cars, trucks and motorcycles.
At Ali’s shop, e-bikes make up about half of his bike rental sales. He requires all potential renters to take a short ride to determine if the renter can safely operate the e-bike. His staffers can make that determination in about 30 to 50 feet, he said.
“I don’t just rent bikes to anyone,” Ali said. “We want to protect people and our assets.”
Much of police officers’ and sheriff’s deputies’ efforts, they say, is educating riders, especially young ones, about the law — rather than handing out tickets.
At least for now.
Huntington Beach police Sgt. Mike Thomas, whose 9- and 12-year-old daughters have e-bikes, said, “90% are not trying to break laws. … Chances are they just don’t know, and they aren’t trying to be rebellious or anything like that.
“The big part from the law-enforcement standpoint is educating the young riders who don’t know the rules of the road.”
Under California law, two classes of e-bikes can top out at 20 mph: Riders under 18 years old must wear helmets.
The third class can reach 28 mph but the rider must be at least 16 years old and don a helmet.
No e-bike can be modified to go faster.
Often mistaken for e-bikes are electric motorcycles, or e-motos, that can reach higher speeds — they are illegal on public streets.
E-bikes have pedals. E-motos do not, they have pegs. Police officers have come across electric motorcycles with pedals — an attempt to fool them.
Orange County sheriff’s Deputy Paul Coleman said if anyone is unsure of whether their bike, or their children’s bike, is legal can stop by a local police or sheriff’s station and ask.
“They come in all various shapes and sizes,” the deputy said.
Benefits of e-bikes
Richard Goldstone, 71, of Laguna Hills bought his e-bike in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as a happy medium between his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a regular bicycle.
He primarily uses the e-bike for exercise, going on rides around Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo three times per week or so, using the throttle assist for an extra boost to get up hills.
Goldstone said he understands why some residents are concerned about the rise of e-bikes, but he says the issue is often exaggerated online.
“It’s important to be cautious, but it’s a bit overblown,” he said.
At Wheel World in the San Fernando Valley, customers are largely seeking e-bikes for recreational use, such as mountain biking.
“It makes you feel 20 years younger and a lot fitter,” said Jacob Stutz, a store employee. “Maybe you could only do 5 miles before feeling totally gassed, but now with an e-bike you can do 10, 15 miles in the same amount of time.”
“They weigh a little more and they go a little faster, but generally 99% of people ride them where people ride regular bikes,” said another employee, Steve Dozier.
Cities weigh in
In Irvine, police say the most common infraction by e-bike riders is not wearing a helmet. In Huntington Beach, officers often see those riding in the opposite direction of traffic.
A student pops a wheelie while leaving Sowers Middle School on an e-bike in Huntington Beach in February 2026. (File photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“It’s quite an issue in the city,” said Riverside Detective Amanda Beeman about e-bike crashes. “It’s people that don’t understand what they’re buying, the rules of the road — and also parents buying incorrect classes of e-bikes for their children.”
Some cities have added additional laws on top of state ones.
In Riverside and in sections of Huntington Beach such as downtown, e-bike riders cannot go on sidewalks.
Some school districts require students to complete a safety course and have a permit sticker adhered to their e-bikes to park them on campus, including Irvine Unified, Huntington Beach High School Unified and Capistrano Unified.
State Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-San Juan Capistrano, wants to see that permit requirement statewide for students riding e-bikes to schools.
“Many agencies, including law enforcement agencies, already work with schools to educate students on how to properly operate e-bikes,” she said. “This should be a requirement, and I am working to get this into law statewide.”
In Hermosa Beach, riders cannot ride e-bikes on the 3.5-mile-long Hermosa Valley Greenbelt Trail, but they can ride them along the Strand and at Pier Plaza with the motors off. Shops that sell e-bikes must use geofencing on the bikes so they automatically stop before the Greenbelt.
Occasionally, youths on e-bikes take on gang-like attitudes, taking over streets and blocking traffic or surrounding and intimidating someone.
A few blocks from the Hermosa Beach pier on a November 2025 night, five teenagers hassled a 56-year-old man and hit him over the head with a pizza box. Within days, the five teens, 13 to 15 years old, had been identified and two arrested. A month before, nearby, a man in his mid-60s said he was surrounded by e-bikers who slashed his tires, yelled at him and hit him over the head with some object requiring 14 staples.
Hermosa Beach Police Chief Landon Phillips says such instances seem to be seasonal, during periods where teenagers are out of school.
“They can be intimidating, and they’ll be jerks,” he said. “We do see it, and I do expect it’s going to come back when the school break happens.”
The chief said those who see those groups causing problems on the roadway can call the department and an officer will head out to talk with the riders.
“Part of the problem is accountability,” Hermosa Beach Councilman Rob Saemann said. “Kids know they can ride away and disappear. There’s very little accountability sometimes.
“The behavior is nothing new,” Saemann said, citing skateboards and other modified ways for teenagers to get around. “It’s changed to a form where it’s far more dangerous.”
E-bikes and hospitals
As their popularity has grown, so has the number of riders in hospital emergency rooms.
“The problem with e-bikes compared to low-speed motorcycle accidents is that … hardly anybody’s wearing a helmet on an e-bike,” said Dr. Mark Morocco, a professor of emergency medicine at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The familiarity of riding a bike can give a sense of comfort, he says — undercutting riders’ perception of the e-bikes’ possible speed and the risks riding them in traffic.
Head injuries — including bleeds, concussions and traumatic brain injuries — and broken bones are common with e-bike patients.
“The potential for accelerated injury is just so much greater, because you don’t have any protection,” Morocco said.
Dr. Lance Brown, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Loma Linda University Hospital and an emergency physician with 30 years of experience, said doctors see e-bike injuries each week, with broken bones and head trauma the most common injuries.
Loss of control is the most frequent reason, the doctor said. Young riders also lack developed reasoning and risk-assessment skills and, if they do not yet drive, they typically don’t understand the rules of the road, he said.
“They go way faster than they would be able to pedal, and they end up losing control,” Brown said. “They don’t have the judgment or development to be able to handle these things correctly.
“And I think if people thought of them more like motorcycles in that regard — they probably never put their 7-year-old without a helmet on a motorcycle, but they will on an e-bike, and they treat it like a little bicycle,” Brown said.
Sgt. Brad Smith, a patrol sergeant with the Huntington Beach Police Department, left, teaches an e-bike safety class at Spring View Middle School in Huntington Beach in June 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Responsible riding
Scheafer, the Irvine officer, supports e-bikes — if used properly.
“E-bikes are a good thing, right?” he said. “It offers a way for kids to get out of the house and off their devices, which is fantastic. You also have … a means to get out and enjoy the trails and do an activity that you might not otherwise do. Or for the ecologically conscious, this is a low-carbon footprint (option).”
Heather Davies has three daughters who all ride e-bikes; her youngest is 11 years old.
The Lake Forest resident made sure her daughters knew the rules of the road before they started riding independently. Her 11-year-old’s bike is capped at 5 mph and she only rides around her neighborhood.
Davies said she does often see young riders going along El Toro Road, doing risky tricks and maneuvers, speeding and not wearing helmets.
“Everyone gets really upset about these groups of kids, but there are kids who can ride them responsibly,” Davies said. “(E-bikes) gives them some independence. They can ride to their friends’ houses and to school.”
