Dear Members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors,
I’m writing regarding Agenda Item 5 (File 26-193) to urge you not to move
forward with the draft “Electric Conveyance Devices” ordinance as written.
Earlier this year, Becker convened a public e-bike safety town hall with
national and regional experts—including Assemblymember Connolly, Safe
Routes to School leader Froh, e-bike advocate Mittelstaedt, and Mineta
Transportation Institute researcher Agrawal. Their shared message was that
the real crisis is not “kids on legal e-bikes.” It’s the explosion of illegal,
over-powered, throttle-driven devices (“e-motos”) being used like
bicycles—and the confusion created when those devices are treated as
e-bikes in policy debates and crash data.
That distinction matters in the two tragedies motivating this agenda item:
- In Burlingame, police reported the e-bike had the right-of-way and was
following the law; a driver exiting a parking lot accelerated onto the
sidewalk into a child.
- In Half Moon Bay, the teen was riding an electric motorcycle with no
pedals—an off-highway electric motorcycle under state law—not a legal
e-bike.
The proposed ordinance focuses heavily on new local enforcement tools
(broad “unsafe operation,” sidewalk bans, administrative fines, youth
diversion and impoundment). I’m concerned this approach will criminalize
youth behavior without addressing what experts identify as the
highest-impact solutions:
1. Stop illegal devices at the source. Follow MTI’s recommendation for
strict retailer disclosures and accountability so families cannot be sold
illegal “e-bikes” without knowing it.
2. Build safe streets. FHWA finds separated/protected bike lanes can
reduce bicycle/vehicle crashes by up to 53%. If you ban e-conveyances from
sidewalks without delivering protected bikeways, you push youth and novice
riders into mixed traffic.
3. Enforce existing laws for illegal e-motos—strategically. Multiple
experts have argued for school-centered enforcement and education that
targets unregistered e-motos, not broad new rules aimed at all e-bikes.
Please pause this ordinance and rework it to align with what the expert
panel and the statewide MTI research recommend: clear definitions, retailer
accountability, high-quality infrastructure, and targeted enforcement
against illegal devices.
Thank you for your consideration,
Ken Kershner
Menlo Park Resident
