Parent warns of rising e-bike danger at school drop-off; police outline enforcement limits

Kinsey Flame, a Newbury Park resident and parent, told the Traffic and Transportation Advisory Commission Oct. 22 that she fears a preventable tragedy if the city does not address high-speed electric bicycle use around schools.

"It is insane. It is complete chaos playing chicken with a preteen on a dirt bike going 40 miles an hour down the street with no helmet," Flame said during public comment, asking for more police visibility, ticketing during school drop-off and impoundment for illegally modified e-bikes.

The concern came near the start of the meeting during the public comment period and focused on safety at school arrival and dismissal times. Flame urged the commission to ask the police department to periodically station officers outside schools and to prioritize enforcement before Halloween, when she said she expects higher numbers of children riding e-bikes.

A responding sergeant explained the enforcement constraints officers face. Under California law, electric bicycles are divided into classes. "A class 1 or 2 would be the same as your child riding a pedal bicycle. They have to have a helmet on," he said, adding that class 3 e-bikes carry additional age and equipment requirements. He noted that electric motorcycles are subject to different rules: "They have to be registered and you can't have them on the street. They're not equipped with the proper safety equipment."

The sergeant said officers have run targeted operations against electric motorcycles and cited unlicensed riders, but that on-the-spot enforcement for faster e-bikes is often limited. "By the very nature of having an electric motor on it does not make them illegal off the bat. So we've gotten a lot of calls on them where when we show up, there's not a lot we can do about it because if they are riding on the right side of the road and they have a bicycle helmet on, there's no violation," he said, warning that some e-bikes are hacked to exceed legal speeds and that it can be difficult to determine that without a speed measurement.

Commission members thanked the speaker and noted that the issue will be appropriate for future agenda consideration. No formal action was taken by the commission; the item was raised as public comment and staff offered an informational response.

What happens next: The sergeant and staff described ongoing targeted enforcement where feasible and said officers will continue to prioritize safety at schools when they can. The meeting transcript shows staff and commissioners discussed raising the Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP) during its next update to address new mobility modes such as e-bikes and to consider school-area safety measures.