June 3, 2024, Keeping up with E-Bikes in Orange County

Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/2024/06/santana-catching-up-to-e-bikes-in-orange-county/)

Santana: Catching Up to E-Bikes in Orange County

BY NORBERTO SANTANA JR. Jun 3, 2024

Spurred by a wild spike in street takeover incidents, Orange County supervisors this week are considering a host of local speed and use limits on e-bikes, with the aim of encouraging stepped up law enforcement. 

The driver behind a proposed ordinance comes out of one of America’s safest neighborhoods on paper. 

In unincorporated county neighborhoods like Ladera Ranch, residents are increasingly calling out street takeovers to local law enforcement.

Residents say they’ve seen takeovers where as many as 50 kids on E-bikes clog up suburban intersections, doing wheelies in front of traffic while masked and screaming obscenities in public at drivers during social media-fuelled pranks.

“Gangs of E-bikes,” is what County Supervisor Katrina Foley said she keeps hearing about when she holds community talks in the area, estimating that she’s held more than five comprehensive community meetings on E-bikes over the past year. 

The gatherings are the most extreme impact from the bikes increasingly hitting local sidewalks all over the county since the pandemic. 

E-Bike Collisions, Injuries on the Rise

A recent study conducted by OC Public Works found that E-bike trauma patients are up 500% since 2020 at local hospitals, with a doubling of collisions with child riders between 2020 and 2021. 

The study further noted that Trauma Services at CHOC Children’s Hospital reported adolescent E-bike trauma patients accounting for two thirds of their child patients.

Several local cities like Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Niguel have all adopted local ordinances on E-bikes. 

[Read: Orange County Cities Crack Down on E-Bikes With Stricter Regulations]

“We’re trying to catch up with the technology of E-Bikes,” said Irvine City Councilwoman Tammy Kim at a recent community forum at city hall where the local police department’s enforcement and education efforts were credited as a leading example across the county. 

But in unincorporated areas like Ladera, the fast electric bikes have showcased an odd gap in law enforcement – one that has some locals even publicly talking about incorporating as a city. 

Sheriff’s deputies only respond to crime incidents in the area while California Highway Patrol handles traffic enforcement on major roads and HOA security is largely responsible in neighborhood areas. 

All those overlapping law enforcement agencies seem to have triggered a gap in coverage. 

A man rides an electric bike on the Newport Beach Pier in Newport Beach, Calif. on Dec. 7, 2022. Credit: AMIR GHANI, Voice of OC

Last Fourth of July in Ladera, incidents involving kids on E-bikes spiked so badly that officials say they want limits in place this year before the summer starts. 

Ladera residents have increasingly called out the E-bike chaos in public meetings with OC Sheriff Don Barnes and County Supervisor Katrina Foley. 

Last month, at the Ladera Civic Council, residents once again sounded off after the latest street takeover. 

One resident said the street takeover motivated them to ask publicly if the area might get a dedicated deputy, something the local Sheriff’s Department quickly noted is “not going to happen.”

Yet the E-bike debate has touched off a long overdue public discussion about the massive transformation occurring to the local transportation grid.

That’s a point Irvine City Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder recently raised at the community forum, highlighting she wants to see more protected bike lanes. Foley also pointed to similar programs in Costa Mesa to create protected bike lanes in coordination with the Orange County Transportation Agency. 

It’s clear that given so much public feedback, many local government agencies are now playing catch up. 

County Ordinance Takes Shape

Shortly after the Ladera Civic Council meeting, a county traffic committee last month unanimously approved a draft E-bike ordinance, which would cover county highways and unincorporated areas like Ladera Ranch. 

Foley confirmed she introduced the ordinance – under consideration on Tuesday – after years of tracking incidents in the Ladera area, as a way to respond to residents’ concerns for more enforcement. 

The county ordinance would require riders under age 18 to wear helmets as well as codify state age and speed limits for certain types of E-bikes. 

It also would ban certain practices such as two riders on one bike or more than two E-bikes in one lane. 

Stepping Up Enforcement, Education

Given all the attention, there’s also been a heightened focus recently on enforcement in places like Ladera, Foley acknowledged. 

The Public Works study also notes that local schools – many who have instituted licensing programs for students on E-bikes – also can hike education efforts on electric vehicles. 

Foley noted that bike retailers also should consider more education for consumers. 

She noted that an important aspect to the county ordinance is getting law enforcement agencies on the same page when it comes to community standards in Orange County. 

That kind of engagement already seems to have had an impact on CHP with officials in Ladera already seen out doing stops.

Foley noted that there’s also a task force working on Fourth of July safety noting that her office enabled the OC Sheriff Department to acquire several E-bikes to help deputies to patrols and response in the Ladera area.

Hiking Enforcement on trails at OC Parks

While some neighborhoods are seeing heightened enforcement of rules on E-bikes, local park trails don’t seem to be getting the same attention. 

It’s something that many park users question.

Gary Jaacks, 85, a local who I met recently and regularly walks at Peters Canyon Regional Park near the City of Orange, has spent the last year questioning OC Parks officials on the lack of enforcement on electric vehicles on trails, openly worrying that people are in danger from the speeds of these bikes.

“OC Parks will just not police this activity,” Jaacks wrote to officials earlier this year. 

Worse than the lack of enforcement, Jaacks and others note, is the lack of clear signage at local parks informing bikers that E-bikes aren’t allowed on county trails. 

Supervisor Foley acknowledges that OC Parks is understaffed and actively recruiting for vacancies.

And she notes the challenges of getting parks officials the needed safety equipment and authorizations to effectively enforce park rules out on the trails. 

Foley agrees with Jaacks that more signs are clearly needed. 

And the question of how best to equip park rangers to deal with E-bikes keeps evolving with Foley adding, “We’ve been debating this for a while.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Tammy Kim is Irvine Mayor. She’s a city council member. We regret the error.