San Diego County has a new target for a consumer protection lawsuit: deceptive advertising of e-bikes.
Read more San Diego OKs changes to 101 Ash St. deal
The Board of Supervisors has ordered county attorneys to start litigation against companies that sell and market products they call e-bikes but which are actually more akin to high-powered electric motorcycles.
Such bikes, which look like and are marketed as regular e-bikes, can easily have their settings reprogramed with a companion app to reach speeds up to 60 mph. That’s well beyond the 28 mph limit California law sets for classifying a product as an e-bike.
Other products, like electric dirt bikes which are illegal to ride on public roads in California, are also being marketed to consumers as e-bikes.
Too often, families are buying these motorcycles in disguise for young children, said Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who introduced legislation authorizing the new litigation.
“This is a really sad issue,” Lawson-Remer said during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
“This deceptive advertising, this deceptive marketing violates really fundamental consumer protections,” Lawson-Remer said.
The county action comes as e-bike crashes involving children have grabbed headlines, including a death in Pacific Beach over the weekend.
On Saturday, 14-year-old Owen Harris died after he was struck by a car while riding a standard e-bike in the beachside neighborhood.
Harris was hit after crossing the intersection of Olney Street and Balboa Avenue while the light was red, San Diego police said.
Read more Fight to pass Measure B, the countywide sales tax increase, heats up
According to Rady Children’s Hospital, the number of pediatric trauma cases involving e-bikes has soared in recent years. In 2021, the hospital saw three cases. But by 2025, that number had risen 262 cases.
A similar trend is being seen throughout California.
In 2018, the state recorded two e-bike crashes, but by 2024, that number had jumped to more than 1,500, according to a recent study on e-bike safety from UC San Diego.
The study also found that e-bike riders were more likely to travel at unsafe speeds and make improper turns.
In response, local governments in the San Diego area are taking action. The state Legislature has looked to crack down on illegal e-bikes, too.
In San Diego, rules took effect in August establishing minimum age requirements for e-bikes. Cities including Chula Vista and Escondido have passed similar age requirements.
In Sacramento, the state Legislature recently passed SB 1167, authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, which would ban companies from marketing electric motorcycles as e-bikes.
The pending legislation is why Supervisor Jim Desmond cast the sole vote against the county suing companies who improperly market motorcycles as e-bikes.
With new rules on the cusp of becoming law, Desmond said it was “premature” to take companies to court.
“I believe we’d be jumping the gun by pursuing litigation as a first step,” he said. “I believe the focus should be on education for parents and kids alike.”
Read more After two decades, San Diego’s Family Justice Center moving out of downtown
The bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
