With more and more e-bikes on the road, bike safety has never been more important in our community. California has officially passed SB 1167, a bill that finally defines and regulates e-motos. Bike Culver City, a local non-profit organization, played an important part in making this happen.
Earlier this year, some members of Bike Culver City traveled up to Sacramento for the Cal Bike Conference, and took the time to meet with state legislators to advocate for this bill.
SB1167, authored by Catherine Blakespear, (D-Encinitas) and supported by more than a dozen state representatives from both parties, is a ‘fix’ for some gaps in the previous law.
Prior to SB 1167, the law required every manufacturer of a motorized bicycle or moped to provide a specified disclosure to buyers. This bill would instead require every manufacturer, importer, or seller of a motor-driven cycle, moped, or off-highway electric motorcycle that is powered by an electric motor to provide a specified disclosure to all potential buyers in any advertising, including any online advertising on internet websites or social media.
Travis Morgan noted that “As a member of the Culver City Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, I often hear concerns about “e-bikes” for traveling at unsafe speeds — 35, 40, even 50 mph — down our neighborhood streets, pulling wheelies and other unsafe maneuvers. However, those high-powered vehicles are not actually e-bikes, which are limited to 28 mph. They are e-motos, and parents often buy them for their kids not knowing that they are unsafe and require a motorcycle license to operate. SB 1147 (and SB 1167) are critical for our community’s safety, and I’m delighted they passed. E-bikes are often incorrectly blamed for the behaviors performed illegally on much more powerful e-motos. Retailers can no longer sell these under the moniker of an “e-bike,” so parents know exactly what they’re buying for their kids. Local agencies must now draw better distinctions between legal e-bikes and e-motos, which cannot be ridden by kids under 16 and without a motorcycle license.”
This bill would amend the type of vehicles that are prohibited from being advertised, sold, offered for sale, or labeled as electric bicycles, including, among others, motor-driven cycles and mopeds. By expanding the application of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill ensures that families won’t accidentally purchase a high-powered, license-required, electric motorcycle for their kids thinking it’s a safe, regulated e-bike.
The bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30, 2026.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo courtesy Travis Morgan
