Chula Vista Poised to Crackdown on Electric Bikes and Scooters

Chula Vista is poised to put some of the region’s toughest limits on electric bikes, scooters and other low-speed electric rides after the City Council’s unanimous first reading of a new “micromobility” ordinance on July 8. A second and final vote is scheduled for July 22, with the rules slated to take effect Aug. 21 following a 30-day education period during which police will issue only warnings.

Under the measure, no one under 12 may operate a Class 1 or Class 2 e-bike, and riders younger than 18 must wear a helmet and may not carry passengers. Class 3 e-bikes and motorized scooters would be barred from sidewalks city-wide; all electric devices would be banned from sidewalks in business districts, and scooters could not be used on roads signed 40 mph or higher.

Violators would face escalating penalties after the grace period—fines can reach $250 and repeat offenders risk having their machines impounded—but city officials say the emphasis is on education, not punishment.

Chula Vista is using the San Diego Electric Bicycle Safety Pilot Program (Assembly Bill 2234) to go further than state law, which sets no minimum age for Class 1 and 2 bikes, does not restrict passengers and is more lenient about sidewalk riding. The pilot lets cities county-wide impose age-based limits until Jan. 1 2029 and requires them to share enforcement and injury data with Sacramento.

City leaders say the crackdown responds to a rise in risky behavior—riders blasting through bus lanes, swerving around pedestrians—and a spike in crashes. Chula Vista’s fire department has tallied 16 e-bike injury calls since July 2024, three-quarters of which sent patients to emergency rooms. County trauma surgeons report that “unsafe speed” is now the single most common violation cited for e-bike crashes in San Diego, involved in 18.6 percent of cases.

The trend mirrors a national surge. A U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission review found micromobility deaths climbing from five in 2017 to 117 in 2023, for a total of 373 fatalities in the seven-year span.

Local concern intensified on July 13, when an eight-year-old boy riding a stand-up electric scooter was struck by a car on Tango Loop in Otay Ranch and later died at Rady Children’s Hospital. Police say drugs or alcohol were not factors and are asking witnesses to come forward.

The crash occurred just days after the council’s vote, underscoring what Councilmember Michael Inzunza calls the “urgent need to protect kids and pedestrians before another tragedy happens.”