OC's police e-bike buyback push may be 1st in nation

ANAHEIM, Calif. — You’ve heard of gun buyback programs to get weapons off the streets?

Now there’s one for e-bikes.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office will host a buyback event in September where e-bikes, e-motorcycles, e-scooters and pocket bikes can be exchanged for gift cards worth up to $1,000, the office announced on Thursday.

That comes after a rash of deaths, injuries and prosecutions in Orange County and elsewhere in California associated with the electric vehicles.

The buyback program is the first known type of its kind in the nation for e-bikes and e-motorcycles, said OCDA spokesperson Kimberly Edds. (A more limited, trade-in program in New York City was offered to food delivery workers last year, to reduce fire risks posed by uncertified lithium-ion batteries.)

In Orange County, the buybacks will be held at Angels Stadium on Sunday, September 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and they are not limited to OC residents, the OCDA’s office said.

The electric vehicles can be surrendered in exchange for gift cards from Target, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods ranging from $200 to $1,000 depending on the type of vehicle. Gift card quantities are limited. The first 75 people who surrender electric vehicles will also get two tickets to a Los Angeles Angels baseball game.

The gift cards are being purchased with money collected from criminal enterprises, funds that are allowed to be used for crime-prevention programs, Edds said.

Working and non-working vehicles will be accepted, no questions asked, and can be surrendered anonymously, she said.

Injuries related to e-bikes and e-motorcycles have increased significantly across Southern California over the last four years and have become the No. 1 reason that Orange County youth are admitted to emergency rooms, according to OCDA Todd Spitzer.

Spitzer is now prosecuting parents for e-motorcycle deaths caused by their teenagers.

In May, Spitzer announced the creation of a e-bike new unit aimed at reviewing all potential criminal charges against youth and adults, including parents who knowingly allow their kids to illegally ride the electric vehicles.

Since January, the OCDA’s office has filed child endangerment charges against four parents for letting their kids illegally ride electric motorcycles.

That includes filing involuntary manslaughter charges against a mother after her 14-year-old son fatally struck an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran in Lake Forest. That death occurred after the mother had repeatedly been warned that the e-motorcycle her son was riding was illegal and that she could be held criminally responsible, according to the OCDA’s office.

She faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted.

“I will never get over the fact that an 81-year-old American hero survived flying combat missions in Vietnam, but he couldn’t survive his daily walk home from work because he was hit and killed by a child on an e-motorcycle who knew he shouldn’t be riding it and did it, anyway,” Spitzer said in a news release.

“Or that the parents of a 13-year-old boy had to bury their child because he crashed an e-motorcycle while riding home. These vehicles are not child’s play, and the consequences are incredibly dangerous and increasingly deadly …

“I want these illegal and illegally modified vehicles off our streets and out of the hands of riders who have no business riding them. If you own one, if you let your child ride one and we catch you, we will prosecute you,” Spitzer added.

The OCDA’s office also filed felony charges against a Yorba Linda father whose 12-year-old son was severely injured after he was hit by a car after running a red light while riding an e-motorcycle that had been modified to travel up to 60 miles per hour.

That happened after the boy and his father were warned about the dangers that came with children illegally riding e-motorcycles, said the OCDA’s office. The father could serve a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

Formal warning letters have been issued by Spitzer to more than 80 OC retailers reminding them of their legal duties when it comes to selling e-bikes and e-motorcycles, and the potential criminal and civil liabilities they could face if they fail to meet those duties, the OCDA’s office said.

The retailers are subject to periodic inspections by OCDA investigators to make sure they’re abiding by the law.

California strictly prohibits the sale of products or devices that can alter how fast an e-bike can go so that it no longer meets the definition of an electric bicycle.

Across the county, deaths connected with e-bikes and e-motorcycles have included a 15-year-old boy who was riding on the back of an e-motorcycle in La Habra, a 13-year-old boy who was killed while riding an e-motorcycle in Garden Grove, and a 21-year-old who died five days after crashing an e-bike in Huntington Beach.

Children 11 to 14-years-old make up nearly 62% of e-motorcycle crashes, even though children under 16 are prohibited by law from riding e-motorcycles, the OCDA’s office said, citing data from the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Record System.

California law distinguishes between e-bikes and e-motorcycles based on three main components: the motor’s power limit, the vehicle’s maximum speed, and whether it is equipped with operable pedals. E-bikes designated under Class 1 or Class 1 don’t have restrictions related to the rider’s age or licensing. E-bikes designated under Class 3 require riders to be at least 16 years old.

E-bikes that don’t qualify as a Class 1, 2, or 3, generally are classified as electric motorcycles. That means that either the bike has an electric motor that goes more than 750 watts of power or can go faster than 20 mph on solely motor power.

Electric motorcycles need to be registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles as an off-highway use vehicle, have current insurance, and can only be ridden off of public highways by someone over the age of 16 with a motorcycle license and a Department of Transportation approved helmet. Riders who don’t meet these legal requirements can be cited and have their vehicle impounded at a fee that exceeds $2,600 a month.

All riders under the age of 18 are required to wear a helmet regardless of classification. Riders 18 years old and up are required to wear a helmet if they’re on a class 3 e-bike or an e-moto.