City ordinance update regarding e-bikes on State Street generates buzz
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— The wheels are turning on e-bike safety measures that has a lot of people talking.
During Tuesday's ordinance committee meeting, Police Chief Kelly Gordon said it’s imperative to change reckless e-bike behavior on city streets for everyone's safety.
“ Sometimes that is through a citation and sometimes that's through a conversation…Unfortunately, right now, the behavior of some makes it actually unsafe for some of our commuters, cyclists and other folks. So this is this is about education enforcement tools that are appropriate and changing behavior in a positive way,” said Santa Barbara Police Chief Kelly Gordon.
The city wants to clarify that all regulations apply to not only bicycles, but to e-bikes, and other motorized bicycles throughout the city.
The amendments provides for the impoundment of a juvenile’s bicycle for operating in an unsafe manner and requires riders to ride in single file, among other requirements.
It also stipulates that any violation of the Ordinance is punishable as an administrative
citation with the fine not exceeding $100 for the first violation, $200 for a second
violation, and $500 for each additional violation within a one-year period.
Local cyclist Art Ludwig worries that some of the new guidelines— including not riding e-bikes on sidewalks- may cause more safety hazards.
“ There was a bicycle. Police officer that someone saw riding on the sidewalk on Carillo because, duh, it's Carillo. It's dangerous to be in the roadway. So until or unless the city can provide roads that are safe to ride on, it should be it should not be criminalized to ride on the sidewalk,” said local cyclist Art Ludwig.
“ I think some of the proposals were a little bit of an overreach and so I'm worried about it. Discouraging biking… if you've written a bike, you know that like being too close to the doors or on parked cars is really dangerous. And so, you know, the best practice for biking is to be visible. And sometimes that means not hugging the parked cars,” said Stanley Tzankov, who lives in Santa Barbara.
Data from the Santa Barbara City Police Department reveals 80 reported collisions involving an e-bike this past year.
In 48 of those the e-bike rider was at fault.
Safety experts say it’s important to reduce e-bike speeds.
Many community members feel the actual risk to public safety is negligible compared to the dangers posed by motor vehicles.
“ While it is definitely frightening to as a pedestrian, to have an e-bike whizzing by doing a wheelie and swerving all over the place, the actual hazard level is very small compared to the hazard level from cars on bikes,” said Ludwig.
