After flurry of accidents, Orange County school district bans e-bikes for young riders

After years of growing frustration and concern, a public school district in an upscale area of California has banned electric bikes for young riders on its campuses. The move comes as county officials look to severely clamp down on unlawful e-bike and e-motorcycle rides, after a spate of recent injuries and the death of a pedestrian.

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Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which covers both Costa Mesa and the wealthier neighboring community of Newport Beach, began its calendar year last week with one notable omission: Students from kindergarten through eighth grade would no longer be able to ride, or even possess, e-bikes on any school property. The district’s updated policy manual, which was adopted in the spring, now states, “Students in elementary school are strictly prohibited from possessing or operating E-bikes and E-motos … on school property, including the periphery of campus at all times.”

The policy further states that “E-bikes and E-motos present unique safety risks” both to students and the community “due to speed” and “limited operating experience among younger users.” Students in grades 9 through 12 are exempt from the ban on possessing an e-bike, but they are mandated to take a safety training course that the district provides before using their e-bikes to commute to school. Students are still banned from possessing “e-motos,” which the district defines as two-wheeled vehicles that use throttle to accelerate without the need to pedal. The district also requires the use of helmets while riding, whether students are on a regular bicycle or an approved e-vehicle. Even older students cannot ride e-bikes or other similar electric vehicles on district campuses.

District spokesperson Annette Franco told the Orange County Register that Newport-Mesa Unified is the first school district in California to ban electric bikes and motorcycles for younger students, though Rocklin Unified School District enacted a similar ban back in February. Electric bicycles and electric motorcycles found on campus without proper permitting will be locked by district staff until a parent comes to claim the vehicle, Franco told the Register. Other communities like Marin County in the Bay Area have already enacted their own bans on young riders beyond school property. 

The new e-bike and e-moto rules come as Orange County grapples with a sharp rise in e-bike and e-moto accidents over the past several years. District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who has routinely pointed to data showing a 430% increase over the past four years in injuries due to e-bikes, has promised to crack down on illegal and unsafe riders — including by going after the parents of those involved in particularly dangerous or deadly crashes. In March, Spitzer’s office brought felony child endangerment and abuse charges against a father whose 12-year-old son was riding a modified electric motorcycle that collided with a vehicle, leaving the young rider with a fractured skull. 

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“The death and devastation caused by e-Bikes and E-Motorcycles has reached epidemic levels,” Spitzer said in a , promising increased enforcement across the county.

At the state level, Assembly Bill 1569 would require the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Education to build a training program for e-bike and e-moto riders in grades 7 through 12. It passed the state Assembly earlier this month and is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

This story has been updated.