California town seeks to criminalize wheelies on ’75 mph electric bikes’
In a reflection of growing sentiment in the US against reckless electric bike riders, one California town is preparing to enact a series of new restrictions and legal clarifications for e-bike riders.
This week, the Santa Barbara City Council will be discussing proposed changes to its city ordinances pertaining to electric bicycles.
The move has been spurred by many in the city having taken issue with riders who operate their bikes in reckless or dangerous manners, often riding near pedestrians on sidewalks or showing a general disregard for the safety of passersby.
As KEYT pointed out, the concerns are often associated with riders of light electric motorcycles such as those made by Sur Ron, Talaria, and other similar bikes. These motorbikes generally do not fall under the legal definition of electric bicycles in most jurisdictions, including in California. Their use on public roads is usually illegal as most lack the requirements for street-legal use. Their intended use is trail riding, such as on fire roads and other off-road scenarios.
“Among them is a Surron,” explained KEYT’s John Palminteri. “It is capable of going up to 75 miles per hour according to the manufacturer and through online video testing. There’s even an additional modification that is said to increase that number another five miles per hour.”
In actuality, most Sur Ron electric motorbikes are capable of speeds around 40-50 mph, though several popular online videos have showcased owners hot-rodding their bikes for higher speed. There are also larger, higher-performance models available, though they are considerably rarer on the streets. Such bikes are used more commonly in the motocross scene.
Young riders cruising the streets while popping wheelies on Sur Ron-style electric motorbikes have become a key image in the debate over reckless riding in cities around the US.
The proposed Santa Barbara ordinance changes include language to tackle that phenomenon head on, including “clarifying language that tricks or wheelies constitute riding in an unsafe manner when pedestrians or vehicles are present.”
Potential actions include “citations, an educational component, and the option to impound a bike by someone illegally riding it.”
According to KEYT, additional definitions and regulatory changes in the proposed ordinance ammendements include:
- Defines what constitutes operating in an unsafe manner and provides examples of unsafe ridership behaviors. This section is applicable to any public street, public right of way, sidewalk, bicycle path, lane, or trail.
- Requires riders to use bike lanes where possible, and on streets without bike lanes, to ride close to the right curb or edge of roadway.
- Requires riders to ride in single file, and not more than two abreast except on paths or parts of a roadway set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
- Requires the yielding to pedestrians when emerging from an alley, driveway, bicycle path, building or otherwise approaching upon a sidewalk or sidewalk area.
- Prohibits the riding of a bicycle or electric bicycle on any sidewalk except while an active threat to personal or public safety is present.
- Requires the wearing of properly strapped helmets for all riders under 18 years of age and that all bicycles or electric bicycles have reflectors affixed to both the front and back wheels and on the rear of the bike.
- Prohibits 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.
- Prohibits the parking of a bicycle or e-conveyance in a manner that obstructs a sidewalk or pedestrian path.
- 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.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
Source Links
Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike