SAN DIEGO — People in Pacific Beach say underage kids are riding recklessly on e-bikes, and they fear someone is going to be seriously injured or killed. CBS 8 is Working for You to find out what the rules are and what is being done about the problem.
“If you’re a parent, you should be watching what your kid’s doing on their e-bike because why we haven’t had a major accident yet with them, I’m surprised. They are just out of control,” said PB resident Karl Jaedtke.
Some people said it's an all-too-common problem when seeing young kids riding too fast, sometimes two or three to a bike, and not wearing any helmets.
“I almost got ran over here with my dog, and I had to jump back. They came around the corner and then he just gunned it, pulled a little wheelie and went whoop right down the sidewalk," said 37-year PB resident Bill Zent, who sent several photos to CBS 8.
“I sent one with two bikes right here at this corner right behind us, three girls no helmet on the first bike," said Zent. "And two girls, one helmet on the second bike roaring down the traffic lane on Garnet.”
Zent estimated the riders were under 16 years of age, so CBS 8 has blurred faces in the photos so as to protect their privacy. He sent another photo taken on Garnet Avenue as well.
“It was down by Sprouts, multiple bikes, multiple girls, they did have helmets this time, but they just ran the stop light, right through the red light,” explained Zent.
CBS 8 talked to Officer Nick Tamagni with SDPD’s Traffic Division over the phone. He said the California Vehicle Code classifies any E-bike that goes over 20 m.p.h. as a Class 3, and that to ride one you must be at least 16 years old, wear a helmet, and not have any passengers on it with you.
“Accidents happen. They can happen real quick,” said Tim Vegh, bike salesman at Bicycle Discovery on Felspar Street. “This is my personal helmet, and I’ve definitely taken a couple falls on this thing, and it saved my life, you know, these things save lives.”
At Bicycle Discovery, they educate customers on the rules of the road when selling or renting E-bikes to them, and Vegh shared this advice with CBS 8.
“Make sure people can see you, wear a helmet, and be smart at intersections. Don’t do something stupid like riding through a red light, you know, just stop, it’s easy, put a foot down if you need to,” said Vegh.
Officer Tamagni told CBS 8 that the police department wants to educate people on E-bike safety, and that if they spot you breaking the rules, they can give you a ticket.
“We got to get a lid on this thing before we have some deaths," said Zent. "Nobody wants to see a little kid ran over. Nobody wants to see that.”
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