From: Bob Mittelstaedt
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2025 5:19 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment, August 18 City Council Meeting, Agenda Item 5a. Electric Bicycle Safety Regulations in San Rafael
E-Bike Access, the Marin-based e-bike advocacy group, strongly supports the proposed ordinance requiring riders of Class 2 (throttle) e-bikes to be at least 16 years of age. It is important for this Council not only to adopt it but also to insist on its enforcement.
The San Rafael Police Department’s report recognizes that the ordinance addresses “a specific and growing public safety concern”: "teen riders on Class 2 e-bikes are increasingly involved in traffic collisions" because they lack the "developmental readiness . . for operating motorized vehicles in public spaces."
Yet the same report states the ordinance will not be enforced unless the underage rider is committing another infraction. This effectively means a 10- or 11-year-old can continue to ride a Class 2 throttle e-bike—despite acknowledged lack of readiness—so long as they obey stop signs.
Respectfully, this is an abdication of responsibility that undermines the very public safety goals this measure seeks to achieve.
Last week's tragedy in Burlingame tells us what's wrong with this unusual enforcement approach. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, an 11- year-old riding a Class 2 e-bike with a 10-year-old passenger collided with a car, which then careened onto a sidewalk, killing a 4-year-old and injuring a 6-year-old. Issuing a citation after a tragedy is too little, too late. The intent of this ordinance is to prevent fatalities, not respond to them after-the-fact.
For laws based on age, such as curfews, alcohol, driving, etc., enforcement based on age is entirely lawful. Most people, including the police, can tell the difference between an 11-year-old and a 16-year old. That provides a reasonable suspicion to stop an 11-year-old riding a throttle e-bike, just as an 11-year-old driving a car or riding a Harley can and should be stopped— before someone is injured or killed.
In addition, targeted and high profile enforcement in contexts where age is even clearer—such as entering or exiting a middle school—would also be effective.
This ordinance serves valuable purposes of educating parents, giving them another reason to say no to their children, and giving schools another reason to ban throttle devices. But if this ordinance is to truly “ensure compliance,” it must be enforced. Announcing in advance that it will be enforced only as a secondary infraction is not good public policy.
The stakes are not hypothetical—they are life and death. We urge you to pair this ordinance with an enforcement strategy that prevents tragedies and other law violations before they occur.
https://www.ebikeaccess.org