A bill to strengthen e-bike safety for youth in San Mateo County has been approved by the California State Legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Assembly Bill 2595 from Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, would establish a pilot program in San Mateo County authorizing local jurisdictions to prohibit children under 12 from operating Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes — the two lowest classifications of pedal-assisted bicycles, both capped at a top speed of 20 mph.
The program’s enforcement structure would treat a violation as an infraction, punishable by a $25 fine after an initial 60-day warning period. Children would be able to avoid a court record or fine by completing an e-bike safety and training program within 120 days of a citation.
The proposed pilot program would remain in effect until Jan. 1, 2031.
The bill was approved by the state Assembly 65-0 in May, before being passed recently by the State Senate.
“AB 2595 gives local communities the ability to respond thoughtfully and responsibly while emphasizing education, public awareness and data-driven policymaking,” Papan said in a statement.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine found that 15.6% of e-bike riders involved in collisions were age 14 or younger, compared to 10.2% of traditional bicyclists.
The youth e-bike safety bill is not the first of its kind in California, with AB 2595 being almost identical to 2024’s Assembly Bill 2234, which authorized a pilot program in San Diego County, and similar to 2024’s Assembly Bill 1778, which authorized a pilot program in Marin County that prohibited anyone under 16 from operating a Class 2 e-bike.
Together, the pilot programs have contributed to statewide efforts to combat rising e-bike safety concerns.
In 2023, Senate Bill 381 launched the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University’s 2025 e-bike safety study, which found that the number of injuries from e-bikes and other lightweight electric vehicles in the United States rapidly grew from nearly zero in 2020 to over 1,000 in 2024.
In July, a study published in the National Library of Medicine, which examined California Highway Patrol traffic records from 2018 to 2024, found that 15.6% of e-bike riders involved in collisions during the period were age 14 or younger, compared to 10.2% of traditional bicyclists.
AB 2595 will now move to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval.
