SB 381: Electric bicycles: study.

Existing law defines an electric bicycle to mean a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and subjects a person riding an electric bicycle to provisions of law governing the operation of a bicycle.

This bill would require the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to, on or before January 1, 2026, conduct a study on electric bicycles to inform efforts to improve the safety of users of the transportation system, and to submit a report of the findings from the study to the Legislature. The bill would require the study to examine, identify, and analyze available information regarding, among other things, data on injuries, crashes, emergency room visits, and deaths related to bicycles and electric bicycles and best practices for policy to promote safe use of electric bicycles.