Bob Mittelstaedt is a retired lawyer, avid e-biker, and co-founder of E-Bike Access which is dedicated to expanding access for legal e-bikes and combatting illegal e-motos. He consults with state and local governments, school officials and law enforcement on how to address e-bikes and e-motos. He was featured in the NYT Magazine article on Marin County’s experience. Read more of his work at Streetsblog. Also, if you’re unfamiliar with e-bike legislation, Calbike authored this handy guide.)
With constituents clamoring for action, legislators in Sacramento are responding with a flurry of proposed bills. The bills run the gamut —from the good to the “what were they thinking?” Here’s a quick rundown, starting on a positive note.
Senate Bill 1167 (Blakespear, D-Encinitas) has received the most favorable press, including in this publication. It is based on the important understanding that our so-called e-bike problem is actually an e-moto problem. The ruckus, and ER visits, are not being caused by pedal-assist class 1 and 3 e-bikes. They result instead from the throttle devices that are supposed to cut off at 20 mph but most of them don’t. They are what we call e-motorcycles or e-motos for short…