On a 4 to 1 vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved a proposal by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer directing County Counsel to investigate and pursue legal action against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that market overpowered electric motorcycles as “e-bikes.”

Lawson-Remer’s proposal was prompted by a summer of County e-bike safety trainings hosted by the Supervisor where a large number of kids arrived with e-bikes that were actually illegal electric motorcycles capable of reaching 40, 50, or even 60 miles per hour. In most instances, parents bought the bikes unaware they were illegal motorcycles. 

“False and deceptive advertising by manufacturers and retailers of these illegal e-bikes is a big problem,” said Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. “It’s a very simple principle. You cannot lie to people when they go to buy something. It’s a very core principle. We must hold these deceptive marketers accountable.”  

Rady Children’s Hospital has seen pediatric “e-bike” trauma cases surge from three in 2021 to 262 in 2025, putting e-bikes on pace to become the hospital’s leading cause of pediatric trauma this year. On Saturday night a 14-year-old was killed on a legal e-bike after running a red light when it was dark. 

Children are suffering skull fractures, brain bleeds, spinal injuries, and other life-altering injuries or death. 

Background:                                     

• A California Legislature-commissioned study found that nearly 88 percent of electric devices surveyed at selected middle and high school bike racks were illegal e-motorcycles rather than legal e-bikes.

• San Diego police have reported a significant increase in crashes involving dangerous electric motorcycles ridden by children as young as 11.

• California law limits legal e-bikes to three classes, with maximum assisted speeds of 20 or 28 miles per hour depending on the class. Vehicles capable of substantially greater speeds or power are electric motorcycles or other motor vehicles—not e-bikes—and cannot legally be operated by children on public streets.

• The County has a strong track record of taking on companies that harm San Diegans. San Diego County joined the fight against opioid manufacturers and secured more than $100 million for the region. The County has also gone after ghost gun companies selling machines that produce untraceable firearms and sued social media giants over their efforts to hook children on addictive technology.

• This year, the County created the Consumer Fairness and Public Protection unit within County Counsel to protect San Diegans from deceptive and dangerous business practices. Now, the County is prepared to use those tools to hold accountable the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that deceive parents and put children at risk.