Huntington Beach to amend municipal code on bicycle regulations

The Huntington Beach City Council is looking at e-bicycles and similar vehicles and how they can safely be operated.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to introduce an ordinance that would amend the Huntington Beach Municipal Code related to bicycle regulations, essentially giving the police department more tools to crack down on dangerous riders.

California Vehicle Code was updated in 2015 to include three different classes of electronic bicycles, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Thoby Archer said in a presentation. Class 3 e-bikes, which are called speed pedelecs, are considered the fastest and have a maximum speed of 28 miles per hour.

“Since 2015 ... there’s been incredible development progress and innovation in the bikes,” Archer said. “We’re seeing the proliferation of these Sur-Ron type bikes, electric-powered motorcycles, and the definitions in the vehicle code have not caught up to these yet ... We need an updated law or something we can use here for more local control.”

The Sur-Ron bikes are not street legal. E-bikes in general were banned from the bike path in Huntington Beach in 2017, but that was reversed in 2021.

The updated city municipal code creates a comprehensive section that covers all types of electric bicycles and similar vehicles, while providing HBPD the ability to issue either civil or criminal citations depending on the officer’s discretion.

Civil citations, which would not affect a person’s driver’s license status, call for a $125 fine for the first citation, $250 for the second and $500 for the third. Criminal citations would send the violator to either a one-day bicycle safety class or to court. The completion of the class would dismiss the citation.

“When you say criminal citation, I’m thinking of a 14- or 15-year-old, would that go on their record?” Mayor Tony Strickland asked. “We need to curb the e-bike problem that we have here in town, but it raises my hairs when you say criminal citation ... We’re not talking about juvenile hall or anything like that for some kind of e-bike violation, correct?”

A man rides an e-bike near Bluff Top Park in Huntington Beach in 2022.

(File photo)

Archer responded that anything proposed on the code would be an infraction, not a more serious misdemeanor or felony.

“You may have a 12- or 13-year-old that you want to have some penalty for what they’re doing, but you don’t want to write them a $400 red light violation,” he said. “That’s the only thing that we have now to utilize as a tool ... the officer may feel like a $125 citation is more appropriate for the violation they witnessed.”

Examples in the updated code of riding a bicycle in an unsafe manner include: riding on a sidewalk without due caution for pedestrians, or riding on a sidewalk, highway, bicycle path or bicycle lane against the flow of traffic. Not yielding to vehicles or pedestrians when required to by the California Vehicle Code is also unsafe, as is operating the bike in a manner it was not designed for and not obeying posted signs.

Someone under 18 riding without a properly fitting helmet, intentionally lifting one or more wheels in the air while riding and riding at greater than 25 miles per hour or “a reasonable speed under the conditions” are other examples of unsafe behavior.

“It goes back to operating it in an unsafe manner,” Archer said. “If someone is on a triathlon bike going down Edwards Hill at 40 miles an hour, that’s probably not unsafe. If they blow the stop sign without looking, then I think that’s a different case.”

If a juvenile subject is cited or arrested for a violation, the officer may impound the bicycle to the Huntington Beach Police Department, to be picked up by an adult.

Councilman Dan Kalmick said he received emails from some residents concerned that they would have to go out of their way to avoid a short ride against the flow of traffic on the sidewalk.

“I don’t want to see folks at 10 o’clock at night riding their bike on the wrong side of Beach Boulevard from work, because they’re in the middle of the block and it’s a quarter-mile to the next light and we’re going to require them to walk their bike in the wrong direction,” Kalmick said. “I don’t want to see folks getting hassled for that. I want to see this used to deal with the hooliganism that folks are reporting pretty often to council and the internet ... the goal here is to protect our residents and protect kids that don’t know better.”

School districts that serve Huntington Beach, in partnership with the Huntington Beach Police Department, introduced a comprehensive bicycle training program this year for bicycle and e-bicycle riders.

Perry Clitheroe, a Huntington Beach resident who spoke during public comments, would be a fan of the new regulations. He said he drives his car east down Adams Avenue to Costa Mesa each day as part of his commute because he didn’t feel safe riding his bike.

Earlier Tuesday, the council held a study session related to the city’s Mobility Implementation Plan.

“Too many bicyclists ... go the wrong way,” Clitheroe said. “I find that very frustrating as a rider, when I’m going the right way. Especially if it’s a kid, I feel quite obligated to look and put myself into the line of traffic when there’s a kid coming at me. To be honest, that freaks me the heck out. I feel like I’m playing the lottery every time I ride my bike, and it’s not the kind of lottery my fiance enjoys.”

A second read of the proposed municipal code changes will be held at the next regular City Council meeting on Oct. 3. The panel also requested an emergency ordinance that would enable the changes to immediately go into effect, if the city attorney’s office comes up with findings to support the emergency ordinance by the next meeting.

“As you well know, because you get them too, I get a lot of emails about this issue,” Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra said to the City Council. “It’s definitely a community priority, so I believe we’ll be able to have the justification.”