From: Monica Stafford
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2025 1:29 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Amelia Stafford Scot Stafford
Subject: Public comment for 8/18/25 city council meeting: e-bike ordinance Re: Electric Bike Safety Ordinance in San Rafael City of San Rafael Public Meeting, August 18, 2025
I want to thank the San Rafael City Council for adopting the local ordinance to prohibit children from operating class-2 e-bikes. I also appreciate the requirement that everyone, regardless of age, wear a helmet when riding on these motor vehicles. Had a law such as this existed two years ago, it might have prevented the e-bike accident that almost took my life.
My thanks as well to Assemblymember Damon Connolly, Supervisor Mary Sackett, and the Marin County Board of Supervisors for your leadership in making this happen locally. I’m also incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for signing the bill into law. And I want to thank Dr. Maa, the surgeon who cared for me after my accident and who has tirelessly championed common-sense e-bike laws to keep people safe.
It means a lot to see this ordinance passed here in San Rafael, which is my home. Your local leadership, combined with public education, will have rippling effects that will protect the San Rafael community and set an example that reaches far beyond. Thank you.
Amelia Stafford, age 17
Senior, Terra Linda High School
San Rafael resident