Student and residents press Carlsbad commission on e-bike safety as police outline enforcement and new ordinance

A Carlsbad High School student and multiple residents urged the Traffic Safety Mobility Commission to expand e‑bike safety education and enforcement Monday, and the Carlsbad Police Department presented quarterly traffic data that officials said will guide enforcement.

Bethany King, a student at Carlsbad High School, told commissioners she supports education-focused responses to a rise in bike-related crashes and asked the city to partner with schools for mandatory or widely available e‑bike safety lessons, expand public-awareness work and keep safety courses accessible for students. "I learned that our city has seen a 233% increase in bike and e‑bike collisions since 2019," King said.

Police Lt. Jason Arnotti, presenting the department's Q1 traffic report for the traffic division, said staff began separating bicycle and e‑bike collision data this year to better target enforcement and engineering. "You'll see I broke down bike related and e‑bike related," Arnotti said, noting total collisions in the quarter were 169 and that the department made 3,442 traffic stops across the three months. He said unsafe speed, improper turning, driving under the influence and signal/sign violations lead the listed collision factors.

Arnotti described the department's approach as the three E's — education, enforcement and engineering — and said the division is leaning on patrol resources, targeted operations, undercover units and drone support to reduce risky riding without creating unsafe high‑speed pursuits. He added the department received a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to fund DUI saturation patrols and pointed to a range of outreach events, including an e‑bike rodeo scheduled for May.

Commissioners and residents pressed the department for more visible enforcement near schools and in the village downtown. Arnotti said school resource officers and motor officers are assigned to schools, but resources are stretched across 23 schools and staffing limitations require rotating assignments and prioritizing higher‑demand corridors. "We try to direct those officers to spend some time at each school and work with our patrol division," he said.

Several residents who spoke during the public comment period described seeing unsafe behaviors around schools and neighborhood streets — wheelies, riding without hands or helmets, wrong‑way riding on sidewalks and riders cutting across intersections — and urged additional enforcement and education. Julie Baker, who lives near Carlsbad High, said more police visibility at school start and end times or volunteer presence could help "nip a lot of that in the bud." David Mills read a short letter from a 9‑year‑old describing a near‑miss at La Costa Avenue and Camino De Las Coches.

The commission did not take formal action on the police report, but commissioners and staff discussed continuing coordination with schools, rolling out the department's education efforts and monitoring collision trends after the e‑bike ordinance the city adopted in February takes full effect in May. Arnotti said staff will continue to examine collision hotspots to deploy resources where they are most needed.

The commission expected to monitor outcomes and enforcement data as education and engineering measures are rolled out and coordinated with the police department.