Huntington Beach's e-bike program seeks to educate riders, drop staggering amount of accidents
Huntington Beach city leaders on Wednesday announced the nation's first police-led student e-bike safety program, which they say is a direct response to a staggering number of crashes involving young riders in recent years.
During a news conference, they disclosed that in the last three years police have seen e-bike-related crashes have more than doubled, jumping from 72 in 2022 to 147 in 2024. Projections suggest that this year could surpass 160, which would be a 120% increase since their study began.
"This is a public safety issue we can't afford to ignore," said a statement from Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns. "We're seeing too many kids injured in preventable crashes. This program is about giving them the tools to ride safely and confidently."
The decision comes in light of a troubling trend based on data from the Children's Hospital Orange County, which shows that youth e-bike trauma cases have increased more than 1,500% since 2019.
"We're seeing more serious head injuries because kids are riding at high speeds with no helmet and no training," said Amy Frias, CHOC/Rady Children's Health Community Safety Educator and Safe Kids OC Coordinator. "It's a dangerous combination, and the numbers we're seeing in the trauma center are only part of the story."
Huntington Beach leads all of the county in "micromobility-related trauma" admissions in riders under 18, and since 2023 Huntington Beach police have responded to more than 1,300 nuisance calls related to e-bikes.
The program was developed by the Huntington Beach Police Department and aims to improve rider safety through education and hands-on training. The course is entirely free and includes instruction from officers on emergency braking, obstacle navigations, reaction-time awareness and helmet use.
Parents are required to attend the classes with their children, which hopes to create a shared learning experience focused on safety on the road and at home, police said.
"We've seen the data. We've taken the calls. Now we're taking action," said Police Chief Eric Parra in a statement. "This is about education, not punishment. We're giving families a real opportunity to build safer habits - and we hope other cities will follow our lead."
Each session will run just over an hour, placing an emphasis on replicating real-world scenarios at different and increasingly challenging speeds.
So far, two dozen officers with 10 different Southern California agencies have completed the 40-hour Peace Officer Standards and Training-certified course, which was developed by HBPD Sergeant Mike Thomas.
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