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City of Huntington Beach
2000 MAIN STREET CALIFORNIA 92648
Tony Strickland
Mayor
February 22, 2023
The Honorable Dave Min
California State Senator, District 37
10th and O St Offices, Ste 6710
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 381 (Min) Electric Bicycles: Study
City of Huntington Beach – Notice of Support
Dear Senator Min,
On behalf of the City of Huntington Beach, I write in sup port of your SB 381, which would direct the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University to conduct a study on electric bicycles to inform efforts to improve the safety of riders and pedestrians. Specifically, this bill will look to guide research of key causes of injuries and fatalities from electric bicycle usage using data collected from various sources.
The City of Huntington Beach is a coastal community in Southern California of about 200,000. Micro mobility modes of transportation such as skateboards, bicycles, and electric bicycles are popular in the City as part of the City’s coveted beach lifestyle. As such, the City has seen a drastic uptick in pedestrian and bicycle involved injuries largely due to the proliferation of electric bicycles. While the City supports new modes of transportation that reduce traffic congestion, improve vehicular flow, and improve air quality, yet public safety and quality of life measures need consideration. The first step toward addressing these concerns in a thoughtful way that maintains and encourages safe forms of transportation involves data collection and analysis. SB 381 will provide the missing link to inform common sense public safety measures to protect residents and promote clean transportation.
For these reasons, the City of Huntington Beach supports SB 381.
Sincerely,
Tony Strickland
Mayor
City of Huntington Beach
cc: Assembly Member Tri Ta
Senator Janet Nguyen
SENATE BILL No. 381
Introduced by Senator Min
February 9, 2023
An act to add and repeal Section 21214 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 381, as introduced, Min. Electric bicycles: study.
Existing law defines an electric bicycle to mean a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and subjects a person riding an electric bic ycle to pro visions of la w governing the operation of a bicycle.
This bill w ould require the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University to, on or before January 1, 2026, conduct a study on electric bicycles to inform efforts to improve the safety of riders and pedestrians, and to submit a report of the findings from the study to the Legislature. The bill w ould require the study to e xamine or compile, among other things, data on injuries, accidents, emergency room visits, and deaths related to bicycles and electronic bicycles and data on best practices for safety of regular bicycles versus electric bicycles.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares both of the line 2 following:
line 3 (a) Electric bicycles not only offer a solution to car dependency line 4 and transport poverty, but also help reduce our carbon footprint. line 5 As California moves away from its dependence on fossil fuels, we
99 line 1 will see a rise in zero emission modes of transportation, including, line 2 but limited to, electric bicycles.
line 3 (b) While the uptake in usage of electric bic ycles is necessary line 4 to meet our climate goals, it is important to ensure rider and line 5 pedestrian safety. Research shows that accidents with an electric line 6 bicycle have more severe consequences than with a regular bicycle. line 7 Head trauma is significantly higher , although a helmet is much line 8 more frequently used. The main culprit behind these results, line 9 according to the experts, is the much higher speed. line 10 SEC. 2. Section 21214 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
line 11 21214. (a) On or before January 1, 2026, the Mineta line 12 Transportation Institute at San Jose State University shall conduct line 13 a study on electric bicycles to inform efforts to improve the safety line 14 of riders and pedestrians, and submit a report of the findings from line 15 the study to the Le gislature. The study shall examine or compile line 16 information, including, but not be limited to, all of the following:
line 17 (1) Data on injuries, accidents, emer gency room visits, and line 18 deaths related to bicycles and electronic bicycles. line 19 (2) Data comparing the injury patterns between bic ycles and line 20 electric bicycles in California.
line 21 (3) Data on best practices for safety of re gular bicycles versus line 22 electric bicycles.
line 23 (4) Review of all laws in the code pertaining to electric bicycles. line 24 (5) Recommended accessories, including, b ut not limited to, line 25 headlights, speedometers, brak es, bells, reflectors, and helmets, line 26 and how having these accessories help to provide safety. line 27 (6) Data on the manuf acturing of electric bic ycles, including, line 28 but not limited to, the mark et of electric bic ycles, manufacturer line 29 information, sales patterns, and the number of electric bicycles on line 30 California roads, including the usage by city and the reasons behind line 31 the usage.
line 32 (7) Data on other countries with high electric bic ycles usage, line 33 including a re view of polic y mechanisms those countries use to line 34 regulate and promote the safe use of electric bic ycles and what line 35 California can learn from them.
line 36 (b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdi vision (a) line 37 shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the line 38 Government Code.
99 — 2 — SB 381
line 1 (2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this line 2 section is repealed on January 1, 2030.
O
99 SB 381 — 3 —