Safe Routes to School Statement on Electric Bicycle & Scooter Safety

Published on August 07, 2026

Traditional bicycles provide K-12 students with the foundation needed to develop essential bicycle operating skills into adulthood. Regardless of classification, heavier, faster motorized bicycles that operate at car-like speeds pose serious safety risks in a community like Palo Alto, where an average of 48 percent, or 2,678 secondary students, bike to school each day.

1. Developing depth perception, peripheral vision, hand-eye coordination and the ability to assess risk challenges minors to master on-road bicycle safety skills on traditional bikes.
2. The American Academy of Pediatrics likens electric and motorized bicycles to motorcycles more than traditional bicycles. Like motorcycles, operation requires an advanced set of bike-handling skills, ideally delivered through multiple on-bike classes taught by experienced adult riders.
3. The changing landscape of electric and motorized bicycle rules and regulations complicates efforts to develop accurate and widely applicable cycling safety information. 
4. Most traditional bicycle helmets are designed for speeds well below legal e-bike speed limits.
5. Most e-bicycle and e-moto websites emphasize fun, recreation and the thrill of high speeds over safe, responsible vehicle operation and informed purchasing decisions.
6. Resident-initiated e-bike and e-moto concerns about youth-involved reckless riding re-direct limited law enforcement resources away from other critical community safety priorities. 
7. Reckless motorized bicycle operation reduces community support for bicycle programs and projects.  
8. Apps modifying the speed of an electric or motorized bicycle can make it difficult to determine its class by sight alone.
9. Lithium-ion battery damage can become a fire and explosion hazard.
10. E-bike generated waste stems primarily from lithium-ion batteries and discarded low-quality components. Improper disposal of dead batteries and unstandardized, hard-to-repair bike parts are creating a growing e-waste crisis.

In California, youth under the age of 16 may not legally operate an electric scooter in the public right-of-way without a valid driver's license or learner's permit. E-motos (motorized bicycles with speeds exceeding 20 mph for youth and 28 mph for adults) are also prohibited from operating in the public right-of-way. For more information about the Safe Routes to School Partnership Advisory Statement on Electric and Motorized Bicycle and Scooter Safety, please contact saferoutes@paloalto.gov.