Sacramento Snapshot: E-bike safety bills get the governor’s signature ...Middle East

A pair of e-bike safety bills from Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, were signed by the governor this week.

Sacramento Snapshot

Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.

One requires e-bikes to have a red reflector or red flashing light on the back, similar to what is required of bicycles that are operated in the dark on highways, bikeways or sidewalks. The lights must be visible from 500 feet in front of a car’s headlights.

“Motor vehicles rated for highway use must have certain safety features, like headlights and brake lights, turn signals, mirrors, and a horn,” the fact sheet for AB 544 said. “However, e-bikes don’t need any of these, making them harder to spot and more dangerous for riders.”

The other, AB 545, is considered a “clean-up bill,” meaning it makes minor, technical changes to existing law.

In this case, Davies’ legislation clarifies — or “cleans up” — existing law that prohibits modifying e-bikes to exceed the speed limit allowed by law.

California law already prohibits people from tampering with an e-bike to change the speed capability to go faster than 20 mph if it’s a class 1 or 2 or 28 mph for class 3.

State law also already restricts people from selling a product or device that modifies the speed of e-bikes.

Davies’ bill adds internet apps to the list of prohibited devices sold to increase the speed of e-bikes. According to the bill, apps available for download on the Apple and Google App stores say they can “unlock” e-bikes, increasing their power and speed.

Davies said the bills “are critical tools we need to help keep pedestrians and fellow riders safe when using e-bikes.”

“With ever-changing technology, these bills allow us to equip e-bikes with new safety lights plus eliminate the possibility of riders acquiring applications to illegally rig their bikes into going faster than what’s allowed under current law,” she said. “Product innovation shouldn’t come at the cost of public safety.”

Orange County legislators have championed multiple e-bike safety issues in recent years.

Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, was behind last year’s law banning the sale of “tuning kits” that change an e-bike’s motor to allow for faster speeds. Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, was a co-author.

Former state Sen. Dave Min, a Democrat who now represents California’s 47th Congressional District in Washington, proposed legislation to study ways to improve safety and rules about e-bikes. Last year, he championed a bill that ensures e-bike batteries are appropriately certified by an accredited testing lab before the bikes can be sold. It was signed into law.

In other news

• The Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee gave the OK to Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s bill that extends the Habitat Conservation Fund, which works to protect parks and wildlife habitats in California. The bill pushes the fund’s sunset from 2030 to 2035.

Blakespear, who represents communities in southern Orange County, said HCF has funded hundreds of projects, including $1.3 million for the Trabuco Creek Fish Passage Project.

• A bill meant to hold large social media companies financially liable if their negligence proves to have caused harm to minors is on hold, its sponsor, Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said last week. The bill has become what’s called a “two-year bill,” which means it won’t advance this year but could be reconsidered next year.

“I’m disappointed that AB 2 won’t move forward this year,” Lowenthal said. “While the pause allows for more time for negotiations, California’s kids and families cannot afford further delays as social media platforms continue to drive youth suicide, eating disorders, anxiety and depression — without legal accountability.”

“This legislature must not settle for watered-down solutions that put corporate profits ahead of children’s well-being,” he added. “I remain fully committed to passing this bill and getting it signed into law next year.”

• After the Trump administration said it is clawing back $4 billion in unspent federal money for California’s high-speed rail project, the state Senate passed a resolution that urges the president and Congress to “protect and maintain the historic investments” made by several bipartisan laws to clean energy, economic development and infrastructure.

The resolution “makes it clear that California stands firmly behind these investments and the communities they support,” a news release from Sen. Dave Cortese, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said.

No Republican voted for the resolution, meaning Orange County Sens. Seven Choi of Irvine, Kelly Seyarto of Murrieta and Tony Strickland of Huntington Beach rejected it. All of Orange County’s Democratic senators voted in favor of it.

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