E-bikes get a 10 mph sidewalk limit in 2027 and cities can cap trail speeds under new state law

California is putting a speed limit on e-bikes riding on sidewalks and handing cities the power to slow them down on trails, under one of three e-bike bills Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed, CalMatters reported Friday.

The broadest of the three, AB 2346, sets a default limit of 10 mph for e-bikes on sidewalks starting Jan. 1, 2027. On the same date, local governments gain authority to set speed limits of 10 to 20 mph on multiuse trails and bike paths. Limits a city already has on the books can stay.

Later changes target the bikes themselves. Beginning Jan. 1, 2029, Class 2 e-bikes, the kind with a throttle and pedal assist up to 20 mph, must come with a speedometer, and every e-bike must have front and rear lights, either built in or removable. Stores will also have to tell buyers each bike's class, top speed and any age limit that applies.

E-motos and a teen pilot

A second law goes after retailers that sell faster machines, such as electric motorcycles capable of more than 28 mph, while marketing them as street-legal e-bikes. A 2025 study from San Jose State University's Mineta Transportation Institute found that illegal e-motos, not legal e-bikes, are the main driver of rising injuries among riders of electric vehicles, according to CalMatters.

The third law lets San Mateo County run a pilot program restricting teenagers' access to e-bikes. Its author, Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, wrote it after two young children in that county were killed in crashes tied to e-bikes and e-motorcycles. Similar pilots were approved for San Diego and Marin counties in 2024.

California has no minimum age for most e-bikes, though riders of the fastest class must be at least 16.

The new laws follow one Newsom signed this summer setting up safety training for students who ride e-bikes. Researchers at UC San Diego counted two e-bike crashes statewide in 2018 and 1,566 in 2024, a period when e-bike use also grew.

Pushback from riders

All three bills cleared the Legislature with nearly unanimous votes, but the advocacy group Streets for All opposed the San Mateo pilot as premature, arguing the state has not yet received results from San Diego's. Its state policy manager, David Martinez, questioned how officers would enforce an age rule. "How can you tell a 13-year-old from a 12-year-old?" he said.

Supporters of e-bikes told lawmakers that safer, protected bike routes would do more to cut crashes than new rules aimed at riders.

Sources

calmatters.org