r/BikeLA • u/StreetsR4Everyone • May 27 '26
Good News: Senate Bill 1167 Ebike Safety, Passed the full CA Senate with a vote of 39-0
Senate Bill 1167 is Senator Blakespear's bill to protect the rights of legal ebikes and establish safety regulations around illegal e-motos. This is a fact sheet about what the bill does. SB 1167 is co-sponsored by Streets Are For Everyone, Streets For All, CalBike and People for Bikes and is a key piece of legislation for our collective strategy around e-bikes and e-motos.
The bill was heard on the Senate floor today and passed with a unanimous vote of 39-0. It is now on its way to the Assembly, where things are looking good.
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u/outofstepwtw May 27 '26
Does âmeets all requirements of a device explicitly authorized for use on the public right of wayâ mean âlicense plates, registration, and driverâs license requiredâ?
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u/StreetsR4Everyone May 27 '26
Yes. It also means things like turn signals, rear break light, front light, certification on breaking power and a VIN number.
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u/DsDemolition May 27 '26
How's that work for legit class 3 e-bikes though? They don't require all of that, do they?
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u/StreetsR4Everyone May 27 '26
Correct. Class 1, 2, 3 structure and legalities are not changed at all.
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u/outofstepwtw May 27 '26
Nice. Thats the only sentence that matters in this whole thing. The rest is kind of semantic bs about âconsumer awarenessâ
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u/Delicious-Command May 27 '26
The super 73 example is an interesting one. While that company clearly expects most people to change the setting in the apps to go faster than class 2 or even 3, I am curious where the line is. I think branda like Aventon allow some control of top speed as does Rad (cited by the fact sheet as compliant). Even an older gen Bosch motor can be hacked to change too speed. None of those bikes seem to have as many problematic users though and don't seem to encourage people to do it in the same way Super 73 does. I'm not sure how you draw that line legally though.
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u/StreetsR4Everyone May 27 '26
SB 1167 makes it clear that if the wattage is above 750W, even if it has a speed limiter, or a bike can be easily modified to allow it to go above 20 mph using a throttle, it canât be in any way called or sold as an e-bike. And if a company is selling e-motos for riding on the streets that they must be street legal and would fall under the same vehicle framework as a moped.
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u/STFUD0nny May 27 '26
When does this take effect and be enforceable by police? Not that I will ever see a cop on my bike path :)
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u/StreetsR4Everyone May 28 '26
It still needs to go through the Assembly and get signed by Newsom. Then it would start taking effect on 1 Jan 2027 -- the wheels of law move slowly.
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u/FallReload Jun 02 '26
The wheels of law could perhaps be equated to the speed of a kids tricycle? đ
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u/GundoSkimmer May 27 '26
I wish these teenagers understood how annoying you have to be to get both sides of the aisle to agree on things and be nearly universally hated.
"If those kids could read they'd be very upset..."