Decades ago, when the Beatles and the Beach Boys topped the charts, the cool kids rode banana bikes. With their long, low-slung seats and high-rise handlebars, they evoked the Harley—a set of wheels with attitude.
Nowadays, throttle-assisted e-bikes are all the rage. Any day after school lets out, you’ll see kids whizzing around on them in Fairfax and other Marin County towns, often with two people aboard. Showboats pop wheelies. With their rugged look and quick acceleration, they bestow a certain panache upon their owners.
But starting July 1, kids under 16 in unincorporated Marin will no longer be allowed to ride them. Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to ban throttle e-bikes for anyone below age 16, citing high accident rates and gruesome injuries.
They also passed a requirement that people of all ages wear helmets while riding them. Previously, adults could ride them without a helmet.
Marin will become the first California county to impose age restrictions on throttle-assisted bikes, one of three types of e-bikes and the one most popular with kids. Critics argue that because you don’t have to pedal them, throttle-assisted e-bikes are more akin to a moped than a bicycle. Their heavy frames and oversized tires add to the effect.
Throttle-assisted bikes provide instant, continuous power, whereas pedal-assisted bikes only deliver power when the rider pedals. Throttle bikes are built to top out at 20 miles per hour, but with a little tinkering, some can be rigged to go much faster.
Because e-bikes are heavier than conventional bikes, when they crash or fall on top of someone, they can cause more damage. “These throttle bikes are more machine than young students can handle,” Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters said.
County officials plan to mount a public relations campaign discouraging their use by kids, and other cities around Marin are expected to follow suit with restrictions of their own. They acknowledge that the new rules will pose enforcement challenges but say it is important to send a clear warning.
The county began gathering e-bike accident statistics after noticing a sharp spike in all types of bicycling accidents among school-age youth between 2019 and 2022, when accidents rose by 110 percent.
The following year, the county started tracking e-bike accidents separately from conventional bike accidents. It found that the e-bike accident rate for 10- to 15-year-olds was five times higher than for all other age groups. On conventional bikes, the accident rate was just 1.5 times higher for kids aged 10 to 15.
Talia Smith, the county’s director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs, presented the findings at last week’s supervisors meeting.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of injuries among e-bikes in school-age youth,” she said. “These accidents were much more akin to what we’d see in vehicle or motorcycle accidents, with internal bleeding and long-lasting injuries.”
The victim of one such accident, 16-year-old Amelia Stafford, sent a message urging the board to approve the restrictions. It was read by her mother, Monica Stafford.
“I know there are questions about how this law will be enforced, but what matters most is that it sends a clear message: kids’ safety comes first,” the message read. “I hope this action inspires other towns in Marin to follow your lead, or to swiftly adopt identical ordinances to protect kids around the county.”
Supervisor Dennis Rodoni asked how the county plans to enforce the new prohibition. Ms. Smith said that, in unincorporated Marin, enforcement will be up to the California Highway Patrol. And C.H.P. officers will not pull over young cyclists unless they have committed some other offense, such as running a stop sign or riding without a helmet.
Violations will be punishable with a $25 fine.
After the meeting, some young e-bike enthusiasts expressed doubt that the ordinance would be effectively enforced.
Elliot Briggs, an avid e-biker from Inverness who turns 14 this month, said the young people he knew were likely to continue to ride their throttle bikes despite the new rules, which would only encourage them to run from law enforcement.
“I don’t think any of my friends are going to sell their bikes or follow that law,” said Elliot, whose parents publish the Light.
To ride up the steep hill to his house would take 20 or 30 minutes on a mountain bike, but he does it in no more than five on a throttle bike.
“Most of the risk and safety issues are in big towns like Fairfax or San Rafael,” Elliot said. “In Inverness, I don’t really see much risk.”
Representatives of two biking organizations spoke in favor of the ordinance last week. Vernon Huffman, executive director of Access4Bikes, told the Light that he supports the new rules, although his board hasn’t taken a formal position on them.
“Unfortunately, the kids have earned this one,” he said. “I’ve seen them display some pretty poor behavior in town, with the wheelies down the middle of the street and more than one kid on an e-bike.”
But given that most kids don’t carry identification, he said, enforcing the rules will be tricky. “The technology is one step ahead of the law,” Mr. Huffman said.