San Mateo County considers e-bike restrictions for children under 12

Papan is proposing that local San Mateo County cities be allowed to restrict children from riding both class 1 e-bikes, which have pedal assist and can go up to 20 mph, and class 2 e-bikes, which have both pedal and throttle assist for quicker acceleration and can also go up to 20 mph. 

Class 3 e-bikes, which can go up to 28 mph, are already prohibited for those under the age of 16. 

The proposed pilot program would make San Mateo County one of the first jurisdictions in the state, alongside Marin and San Diego, to allow for stricter restrictions on class 1 and 2 e-bikes, which currently have no legislative age requirements. Ridership age for the vehicles has sparked both recent resident concern and legislator involvement, with multiple officials hosting town halls on e-bike safety and regulation. 

“Our county really has a prevalence of these devices. People are getting injured. We’ve had a couple deaths,” Papan said. “I want the local elected to be able to enact ordinances that they deem appropriate for each of their jurisdictions.” 

In Burlingame, the 2025 death of 4-year-old Ayden Fang, who was struck by a car while standing on a sidewalk, sparked outcry over traffic and pedestrian safety. Two children riding an e-bike, which police said previously was in the right of way, struck the car before the driver accelerated onto the sidewalk. 

And in Half Moon Bay, a 16-year-old boy died on an e-motorcycle after colliding with a box truck on Highway 1. That crash also prompted conversations around e-bike safety. 

Papan has already been working on the e-bike issue, hosting an educational town hall of her own and introducing previous legislation that aims to close the vehicles’ speed loopholes.

As the state weighs more comprehensive future legislation on the issue, she’s now pushing for San Mateo to be an early adopter of regulation possibilities as a way to stem safety issues. The data collected from that pilot program could lead to a variety of possibilities, Papan said, including training requirements to ride an e-bike. 

“I think, ultimately, these pilot programs will feed into some sort of certification program, and we’ll have to see what that looks like,” she said. “I’m tremendously optimistic about having a pilot program, getting the data, and yes, getting to where we’ve got a statewide program in place and some monitoring.” 

Legislators are exploring the potential for e-bike regulation on a federal level as well. 

A new bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, could create nationally standardized requirements for e-bike sellers in an attempt to quash the sale of unregulated devices that exceed speed limits. If passed, it would also offer recommendations for age limits and require the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to study e-bike crashes and injuries.

“Without clear federal standards, the rapid growth of unregulated e-bikes is creating real safety risks for pedestrians, motorists, bicyclists, and especially children,” Huffman said in a press release. 

Despite some pushback from bike advocates, Papan said she was happy to have received support from fellow legislators on moving forward with regulating e-bikes at a recent Transportation Committee hearing. 

“Many of my colleagues chimed in, no matter where they were from in the state, and they said, ‘We just cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good right now. We have got to get regulations on the books,’” she said.