Bright and early on Sept. 7, students piled into the crowded Bernardo Heights middle school auditorium for the first of two e-bike safety presentations of the day. Starting Jan. 6, 2025, the Poway Unified School District will be enforcing attendance to one of these classes for student e-bikers. During the class, a student will receive a sticker to place on their e-bike as proof of completion.
Two more classes were held at Poway High School on Sept. 11 and at Del Norte High School on Sept. 17. Additional classes will be available in October.
Nick Tamagni is a traffic officer with the San Diego Police Department and one of the presenters of the e-bike safety classes. Tamagni said educating the public on how to comply with the law and make safe choices when riding and purchasing e-bikes is crucial.
“Our mission is making the roads as safe as possible for the public,” Tamagni said. “With good communication and collaboration with our community partners, we’re hoping to educate new e-bike owners. And in order to comply with the law, you need to know what it is.”
The presentation went over various rules and safety regulations, such as how if there are two kids on an ebike, the one biking is civilly responsible and passengers can only be carried on class 1 or 2 bikes with a properly equipped rear seat.
But a main part of the presentation educated the audience on the three-class system established by an assembly bill in 2016 for categorizing e-bikes. A class one e-bike only provides assistance when pedaling and will stop assisting at 20 mph. A class two e-bike is very similar to class one but on top of pedals, has an additional throttle that accelerates without pedaling up to 20 mph. A class three e-bike has to be equipped with a speedometer (for the other classes it is optional) and is pedal assisted up to 28 mph. To ride a class three e-bike, riders must be at least 16 years old.
But, when an “e-bike” is able to exceed 28 mph, it is then classified as a motorcycle. Riding such a vehicle is illegal without a motorcycle license and safety equipment, such as mirrors and a blinker. Additionally, these motorcycles must be registered as such or else they will be brought to an impound lot with a starting fee of $250. Because of this, Tamagni emphasizes the importance of knowing what kinds of bikes are illegal, in order to make an informed purchase.
“Manufacturers are not required to sell you a bicycle that complies with our state law specifically,” Tamangi said. “It’s [up to] the purchaser to make sure that they buy a bike that complies with California law.”
Ayrton Senna (10), got his “e-bike” impounded on Aug. 28 due to its classification as a motorcycle. He was able to pay to get it out and now plans to add blinkers, mirrors, and obtain a motorcycle license in order to be able to ride legally. In the meantime though, he has an additional legal e-bike that he can ride to school.
Senna has been e-biking to school since April and said it has brought convenience to both his and his parents’ lives.
“All you really have to do is turn the key and go,” Senna said. “It’s really simple. My parents don’t have to worry about me and this is quicker.”
Although the bill detailing the different classes of e-bikes was passed in 2016, Tamagni said that the recent increase in e-bike popularity and lack of education concerning these vehicles have caused more police involvement. .
“They have become very popular recently and like the rest of our world, it’s constantly changing,” Tamagni said. “And so the more e-bikes that are on the road, the more likely they are to encounter other vehicles or possibly have a potential law enforcement contact if they end up breaking the law.”
Tamagni has responded to many crashes, not just with e-bikes, but also involving regular bikes. Collision statistics in San Diego from 2019-2024 for bicycles state that there were 1,594 reports of serious or minor injuries and 17 fatal injuries. One of the ways to protect yourself from injury or worse, especially on an e-bike, is by wearing a helmet. The CA vehicle code 21212 (a) states that persons under the age of 18 should not ride a bike without a helmet.
“Helmets do save lives and reduce injuries, but just because you’re wearing a helmet does not mean you cannot be injured or worse,” Tamagni said. “I have personally been to collisions involving cyclists where if they would have been wearing a helmet, the possibility that they would have survived was actually very high.”
Tamagni is an e-bike owner, owning both a class one and class two e-bike. Therefore, he is aware of the benefits of these bikes, but also of the dangers.
“I’m aware of how fast they are and how much faster they accelerate and allow you to maintain a higher speed,” Tamagni said. “So it also takes more time to stop the faster you go. It’s quite simple physics: the faster you go, the harder you can fall or hit an object. So this can result in a more severe injury. If your class three bicycle is traveling at its max speed, which is 28 miles an hour, that means the rider is also traveling at 28 miles an hour and that’s faster than the speed limit on a residential street, which is 25 miles an hour.”
