Police to crack down on e-bike usage in Pacific Beach

San Diego police plan to educate and enforce restrictions on electric bike usage at the Pacific Beach Boardwalk in response to rising concerns around electric bike safety.

The discussion during the Oct. 15 Pacific Beach Town Council meeting included outlines of a plan to attack the problem. This was the second consecutive meeting where the topic of e-bikes was raised.

San Diego Police Department Community Relations Officer Jessica Dishman was accompanied by the entire Northern Division Community Oriented Policing Squad (COPS), which is spearheading enforcement of e-bike regulations to demonstrate police resolve in getting ahead of the issue.

Consisting of Officers Zane Peterson, Kurtis Vaughn and Dustin Welsh, the COPS team announced that 20 signs prohibiting e-bikes and all other motorized vehicles would be posted along the entire Boardwalk.

“That way people will know and they can’t say, we didn’t know,” Welsh said.

According to Welsh, he was informed that only one such sign exists at the foot of Grand Avenue, though he could not personally attest to it.

Welsh added that the goal is to encircle Mission Bay Park with similar signage on its paths, but emphasized that funding had not yet been secured.

The COPS team, accompanied by park rangers and the police department’s day beach team, was scheduled to spend the following day surveying the Boardwalk to get a grasp on the scope of the issue while stopping violators to educate them and documenting their findings.

“That way, we know (whether) there’s a bigger problem or there’s a smaller problem,” Welsh said. “So that way next summer, it’s not as big a problem as we’ve had. We can kind of cut it off now.”

Vaughn reported that police are also taking initial steps toward a possible media campaign, including public service announcements, to inform the public about the law on e-bikes.

Because most e-bike violations, whether behavioral or illegal modifications to allow them to go faster, are committed by minors, Dishman said any education campaign would also target parents because they usually purchase the e-bikes for their children.

“Parents, at the end of the day, are forking out the money and they’re buying it,” Dishman said. “So we’re trying to educate that parents are responsible as well and they can be held responsible.”

Vaughn said parents can be issued citations and even charged with felonies depending on the violation committed by their children on e-bikes.

“We want to put this information out,” he said. “Obviously the kids aren’t containing (the problem). We were all kids once. It’s in one ear, out the other … So now we want to also get the attention of the parents and let them know that they can be held responsible in a pretty serious manner if this continues. We’re hoping that that will get the shift in the right direction.”

One concerned resident said the focus on the Boardwalk might be misguided because most violations are committed by students after school. She listed roadways, such as Ingraham and Olney streets among others, where e-bike infractions occur daily.

“It’s worse on the street than it is on the Boardwalk, with the wheelies and the triple turnarounds and the speeding through stop signs and the motorcycles that aren’t really e-bikes anymore,” she said. “They’re usually kids and they’re coming from school. Would your enforcement be better maybe a block away from the school?”

Acknowledging the resident’s observation, Welsh replied that the COPS have initiated “trap stops” in La Jolla to crack down on student e-bike miscreants and will bring the program to Pacific Beach.

“We have to take small steps with different projects,” Welsh said. “If we just stick on one project too long, then all the other smaller issues become larger issues.”

Dishman cautioned the audience that the COPS cover the entire Northern Division, spending each day focused on one community while also performing other enforcement not limited to e-bikes.

“There are just three officers,” she said. “If we’re down here, kids are up here doing bad things. So it’s just time mastering sometimes.”

Police are coordinating with the county to implement a program in which students must pass a safety course, have their e-bikes inspected, and get parents to sign off, after which they are issued permits before they can park their e-bikes on school grounds.

Non-profit beautifulPB President Ryan Stock asked whether bikers are allowed on the Boardwalk if they switch their e-bikes to physical pedaling. Vaughn replied that motorized vehicles are technically prohibited from being on the Boardwalk, not just operated.

“When it comes to actual enforcement, obviously we’ll use discretion,” Vaughn said. “If they’re riding in a very safe manner and they’re not causing any issues, it could just be a quick conversation. We’re primarily looking for the kids doing wheelies, speeding, things like that. But just keep in mind that the law states no motorized vehicles on the Boardwalk. So those kinds of bikes are also part of that.”

With police having issued more than 13,000 citations for Daylighting Law violations since enforcement began on March 1, or an average of 60 tickets daily, the officers attempted to carefully explain the law’s details during the other half of their presentation.

Under the Daylighting Law effective since Jan. 1, parking is prohibited within 20 feet of the approach side to a crosswalk of an intersection, whether the crosswalk or the 20-foot section of curb is marked or unmarked. On one-way streets, parking is not allowed on both sides since the approach is in a single direction.

“If you are traveling in a vehicle it’s going to be to the right of you,” said Dishman. “If there were cars parked there, you would not be able to see any of the pedestrians approaching that crosswalk. That’s the whole idea behind this law.”

When curbs are not painted, Dishman said 20 feet equals approximately one and a half car lengths.

Because drivers have to estimate when there are no markings, the officers were sympathetic.

“When this first came down, I had no idea where the 20 feet started from,” Welsh said. “I’m like, do we get to take measuring tape with us now and we have to measure it? We don’t. That’s why we’re kind of like (enforcing) within the spirit of the law.”

Complaints arose, with some in the audience questioning the safety value of the Daylighting Law when jaywalking was decriminalized two years ago.

“You just got to remember, the people who write the laws never ask us for our input,” Peterson said.

In other business, the town council members present approved the full slate of seven officers and candidates for the 2025-2026 board of directors proposed by the nominating committee.

They include Charlie Nieto for president; Liz Garcia for vice president; Connor Lentz for secretary; and Annie Kaffka, Brian Jackson, Celina LaFrombois and Karl Rand as directors.

Long time directors Denise Friedman and Cathie Jolley will be stepping down at the end of their terms after years of devoted service to the community.