Body of News Release
Marin County, CA – Bipartisan federal legislation on e-bike safety has officially been introduced at the U.S. Capitol, and at least part of its origins can be traced to Marin County.
Congressmember Jared Huffman, who represents Marin and the rest of California’s Second Congressional District, worked with four other U.S. Representatives under the leadership of Southern California Congressman Dave Min to introduce the Safe Standards for Personal E-Bike and E-Moto Device Specifications Act (Safe SPEEDS Act) on Friday, March 13.
The bill would direct the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to develop a final consumer product safety standard that defines clear and consistent classifications, labeling requirements, and minimum age recommendations for e-bikes, e-motos, and other off-road electric products. It would also require periodic CPSC studies on crashes, injuries, and fatalities associated with e-bikes and e-motos as well as establish a grant program and training module to help local governments, law enforcement agencies, and emergency medical services (EMS) agencies to standardize incident reporting, enhance data collection, and conduct public education on safety risks from e-bikes and e-motos.
District 1 Marin County Supervisor Mary Sackett has advocated to increased e-bike safety measures from Sacramento to Washington – including meeting with CPSC commissioners in early 2024, and Congressmember Min’s office in Washington D.C. last year to collaborate on ideas for the bill. The inclusion of funding to help local jurisdictions collect data on e-bike safety is directly attributed to experiences in Marin County, as is study of age requirements that the bill directs the CPSC to conduct. Marin County leadership also promoted the inclusion of permanent, clearly visible, and consistently placed labelling with information about the e-bike's classification, speed, and relevant age restrictions when manufactured, sold and imported.
Now that the bipartisan bill is introduced, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will advocate for its passage through Congress.
Starting in October 2023, Marin gathered EMS data to show that electrically powered bicycles were increasingly involved in emergency responses for accidents, especially among young people given that youth ages 10-15 were five times more likely to need an EMS response compared to other age groups. The County established a bike safety data dashboard and issued a Public Health Advisory about e-bike safety in November 2023. A CPSC report on micromobility safety in September 2023 highlighted many of the same injury concerns that Marin’s data showed.
In 2024, Marin County sponsored state Assembly Bill 1778 to pilot laws specific to the use of electric-assisted bicycles. State Assemblymember Damon Connolly, a San Rafael resident and former Marin County Supervisor, authored the bill that allowed jurisdictions in Marin to pass ordinances that restricted the use of Class 2 throttle e-bikes. In 2025, the Board of Supervisors and all 11 city and town councils in the county adopted local ordinances that made it illegal for children under age 16 to operate a Class 2 e-bike and require riders of all ages to wear helmets on such e-bikes. Class 2 e-bikes have a throttle, with a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph.
By passing the ordinance and launching a public education campaign, the County addressed concerns from Marin residents, trauma doctors, and emergency responders as well as clear data showing that young riders in Marin were experiencing serious injuries from high-speed e-bike collisions at what Connolly called alarmingly disproportionate rates.
Marin County’s E-Bikers Club is a public education campaign directed toward families to explain the different classes of legal e-bikes and promote safe riding for teens.
“The Safe SPEEDS Act will bring much-needed clarity and consistency to the e-bike marketplace, a growing safety concern for families across the country,” Sackett said. “Federal consumer product safety standards for e-bikes and e-motos are currently nonexistent, resulting in confusion and the inadvertent purchasing of e-motos for young riders. Marin County is proud to be a national leader in youth e-bike safety and e-bike adoption for active transportation, and our experience shows how urgently this federal leadership is needed to bring guardrails to the marketplace for families."
“We've been tracking e-bike EMS data in Marin since 2023 and it's been integral in our local efforts to understand the injury risks e-bikes pose, especially for young riders,” said Deputy County Executive Talia Smith. “We support this federal bill and are proud to have worked with the Congressman Min’s office to develop its provisions. There is more work to be done, but we’re happy to see this safety issue prioritized as a bipartisan concern for Congress and getting the national attention it deserves.”