Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon knows what it feels like to encounter an unruly rider on an electric bike.
“I myself have been clipped in the heels by an e-biker on the sidewalk on Figueroa,” Sneddon said. “When I asked him to please stop, he used profanity at me and told me to get out of the way.”
A rise in e-bike collisions is forcing the city to increase enforcement against those who ride e-bikes in the wrong places.
The city’s Ordinance Committee voted 3-0 to roll forward with changes to the bicycle ordinance in hopes of making the city safer. The amendments to the ordinance establish rules for pedal-powered bicycles along with electric and motorized bicycles and electric skateboards. The full City Council still must vote on the amended ordinance.
The changes state that riders must ride single file, use bike lanes, stay off sidewalks and wear properly strapped helmets for those under 18 years old. The changes also prohibit the operation of a bicycle or electric bicycle on a roadway unless it is “equipped with a brake that will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.”
Several other changes have been suggested. Those who violate the ordinance would be fined $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation and $500 for every violation after that.
The updated ordinance also would allow for impounding a juvenile’s bicycle for operating in an unsafe manner and states that a parent or other guardian must retrieve the bicycle from the Police Department and pay the impound fee.
“This is not about us becoming vehicle-centric again,” Police Chief Kelly Gordon said. “That’s not what this is about. This is about having safety for everyone. This is about everyone’s safety.”
Gordon presented statistics that showed there have been 80 collisions so far in 2024 involving e-bikes, and in those cases the riders were at fault 48 times.
In 2023, there were 73 e-bike crashes and only 10 in 2022.
The problems with e-bikes erupted after Santa Barbara closed nine blocks of State Street to vehicles during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. State Street has become a bicycle thoroughfare, and some of the people who cruise the street do so on e-bikes, often whizzing by. Most pedestrians have moved from walking on the street and returned to the sidewalk because the e-bikes have such a strong presence.
“We live in a society where we need to co-exist in how we get around,” resident Lee Heller said. “I am a pedestrian. I am a dog walker. I want to see our community be safe.”
She said she supports the idea of impounding bikes if juveniles are using them inappropriately because it will force parents to get involved and know what their kids are doing.
“I am strongly in support of this ordinance,” Heller said.
Councilman Oscar Gutierrez is an e-bike rider and a bicycle advocate. Still, he has concerns.
“I am going to have to take my bike helmet off and view this as a council member whose main priority is the overall safety of the city and the community,” Gutierrez said. “I have personally witnessed enough bad actors for me to have to do something more than what we have already been doing.”
