Tensions in the West Valley are amping up as e-bike riders zip through small community streets at high speeds. One town is trying to fix that.
Los Gatos Vice Mayor Rob Moore hosted a meeting last week to discuss concerns about dangerous e-bike riding, a rising trend in the small town that’s frustrated residents for months. Residents and officials aren’t upset with riders of regular e-bikes, but rather with teens riding powerful bikes with a throttle who unsafely pop wheelies on streets and cut off drivers — even though the bikes aren’t street legal. Local officials and residents want to solve the problem, and their efforts could lead to future legislative action.
Los Gatos’ existing regulations follow state guidelines, which cover regular e-bikes but not non-street legal bikes, including from popular brands Surron USA and Talaria. Those brands have motors that can exceed 750 watts, the maximum wattage allowed by the state to regulate speed and power. The guidelines divide e-bikes into three classifications defined by maximum speed and whether they have a throttle. California doesn’t require riders to have a driver’s license in any classification, but one classification requires riders to be 16 or older…