Multiple cities across Orange County—including Rancho Santa Margarita, Huntington Beach, Buena Park, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and unincorporated Orange County—are drafting their own unique regulations for e-bikes.
I’m not disputing that there’s an issue. Every automobile driver has likely encountered an irresponsible e-bike rider, and many pedestrians probably feel the same way. But e-bikes themselves are not the problem.
Every driver, pedestrian, and cyclist has also encountered reckless automobile drivers—speeding, tailgating, making unsafe lane changes or turns. Yet, we don’t address this issue by allowing each city to create its own vehicle code or by piling extra regulations onto automobiles. Instead, we enact statewide traffic laws designed to promote safety and rely on law enforcement to hold violators accountable…