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The trouble with San Diego's e-bikes
Neighborhoods fret over electric youth
Kids on e-bikes run a stop, get ticket
Electric bikes are fast, quiet, and showing up all over San Diego County. And as with most technological and vehicular innovations, not everybody is happy about it.
On August 7, Diah from South Park filmed several young boys on electric dirt bikes circling the Balboa Park Golf Course as sprinklers sprayed the greens. "When they noticed me filming, they came closer in an apparent attempt to intimidate me," she wrote on NextDoor. "One rider even stopped and asked what he had done wrong."
"When they noticed me filming, they came closer in an apparent attempt to intimidate me."
Around the same time, Mike Tuke from South Park spotted three "very young kids — under 12 years — all on one bike riding northbound on 30th around Elm street." Another local chimed in to say that kids on electric dirt bikes are "terrorizing Liberty Station, too. They’re riding around yelling the 'N-word' and harassing people all over."
Hikers and cyclists say the problem is bigger than just kids acting up: electric dirt bikes, some which can reach speeds of 40 to 50 mph, are flooding trails — where they don’t belong. The popular Sur-Ron and Talaria models may look like oversized e-bikes, but the state classifies them as off-highway motorcycles. That means they need a Green or Red Sticker and are legal only on Off Highway Vehicle trails or private property — not on city streets, sidewalks, or bike paths, according to the California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division.
Of course, older San Diegans are concerned not simply because the dirt bikes are not authorized for road use. Rather, it's because the kids riding them are popping wheelies as they weave through traffic, tearing through playgrounds full of little kids, and even crashing into sandboxes. Coco F. wrote, "These reckless teen and tween e-bikers are out of control" in San Carlos and Lake Murray. She added, "I was taunted while in my vehicle with my granddaughter in my car. I have his photo doing wheelies on Golfcrest deliberately. It's time for cameras, arrests, and fines. Parents will be sued as a consequence."
The complaints keep coming. One local Redditor, Snoo_75309, wrote: "I saw a motorcycle cop go after a kid on a dirt bike the other day [and the] kid dipped a left into oncoming traffic as soon as he saw the cop pull up to the light. The cop hesitated a second before turning on his lights and giving chase.
And back in January, a video on the San Diego Cyclists Facebook page showed a teen in a pro-anarchy T-shirt blasting through a Downtown red light on an electric dirt bike before smashing into a white car and literally flying out of his shoes. The driver pulled over while the shaken kid dragged his vehicle off the street, and a woman stepped in to help.
As one local Redditor, Daddyball78, summed it up: "They do the same shit on e-bikes & e-scooters: wheelies and typical dip shit adolescent kid behavior. I’ve seen two kids in my area go down with major injuries. They don’t know or obey the rules of the road. They’re too young and irresponsible to do so. I can’t believe those things (electric dirt bikes) are still legal, to be honest."
Here's something you might be interested in.
The trouble with San Diego's e-bikes
Neighborhoods fret over electric youth
The trouble with San Diego's e-bikes
Neighborhoods fret over electric youth
Kids on e-bikes run a stop, get ticket
Electric bikes are fast, quiet, and showing up all over San Diego County. And as with most technological and vehicular innovations, not everybody is happy about it.
On August 7, Diah from South Park filmed several young boys on electric dirt bikes circling the Balboa Park Golf Course as sprinklers sprayed the greens. "When they noticed me filming, they came closer in an apparent attempt to intimidate me," she wrote on NextDoor. "One rider even stopped and asked what he had done wrong."
"When they noticed me filming, they came closer in an apparent attempt to intimidate me."
Around the same time, Mike Tuke from South Park spotted three "very young kids — under 12 years — all on one bike riding northbound on 30th around Elm street." Another local chimed in to say that kids on electric dirt bikes are "terrorizing Liberty Station, too. They’re riding around yelling the 'N-word' and harassing people all over."
Hikers and cyclists say the problem is bigger than just kids acting up: electric dirt bikes, some which can reach speeds of 40 to 50 mph, are flooding trails — where they don’t belong. The popular Sur-Ron and Talaria models may look like oversized e-bikes, but the state classifies them as off-highway motorcycles. That means they need a Green or Red Sticker and are legal only on Off Highway Vehicle trails or private property — not on city streets, sidewalks, or bike paths, according to the California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division.
Of course, older San Diegans are concerned not simply because the dirt bikes are not authorized for road use. Rather, it's because the kids riding them are popping wheelies as they weave through traffic, tearing through playgrounds full of little kids, and even crashing into sandboxes. Coco F. wrote, "These reckless teen and tween e-bikers are out of control" in San Carlos and Lake Murray. She added, "I was taunted while in my vehicle with my granddaughter in my car. I have his photo doing wheelies on Golfcrest deliberately. It's time for cameras, arrests, and fines. Parents will be sued as a consequence."
The complaints keep coming. One local Redditor, Snoo_75309, wrote: "I saw a motorcycle cop go after a kid on a dirt bike the other day [and the] kid dipped a left into oncoming traffic as soon as he saw the cop pull up to the light. The cop hesitated a second before turning on his lights and giving chase.
And back in January, a video on the San Diego Cyclists Facebook page showed a teen in a pro-anarchy T-shirt blasting through a Downtown red light on an electric dirt bike before smashing into a white car and literally flying out of his shoes. The driver pulled over while the shaken kid dragged his vehicle off the street, and a woman stepped in to help.
As one local Redditor, Daddyball78, summed it up: "They do the same shit on e-bikes & e-scooters: wheelies and typical dip shit adolescent kid behavior. I’ve seen two kids in my area go down with major injuries. They don’t know or obey the rules of the road. They’re too young and irresponsible to do so. I can’t believe those things (electric dirt bikes) are still legal, to be honest."
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