Walnut Creek residents who have flooded City Hall with complaints about reckless e-bike and e-moto riders now have new state law behind them.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three e-bike safety bills on Wednesday, Sept. 30, that will reclassify fast electric devices as motor vehicles, cap sidewalk riding speeds and eventually require speedometers on certain e-bikes. Two of the laws apply statewide. The third creates a pilot program limited to San Mateo County. The statewide laws are relevant to Walnut Creek, where Mayor Kevin Wilk said in April 2026 that he had received more emails about reckless e-bike and e-moto riding "than any other topic in the entire city" over the prior 18 months, the Mercury News reported.

John Muir Health's trauma center treated twice as many life-threatening e-bike crash injuries in 2025 as the year before, including severe brain injuries, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

SB 1167 was authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas). Starting Jan. 1, 2027, devices capable of exceeding 20 mph on motor power alone or receiving motor assistance above 28 mph cannot be sold or advertised as e-bikes. To operate on public roads, those devices must qualify as an authorized motor vehicle and meet its licensing, registration and other requirements.

The law also requires sellers to disclose when a device qualifies as a motor vehicle and strengthens crash-reporting requirements so officials can distinguish e-bike collisions from e-moto collisions. A December 2025 report by San José State University's Mineta Transportation Institute found that many crashes attributed to e-bikes likely involved faster e-motorcycles and e-mopeds, as reported by KQED.

"While legal e-bikes themselves may not be perfect, the thing we know we need to address are these illegal devices that are making e-bikes and e-bike riders look really bad," Marc Vukcevich, director of state policy for Streets for All, told KQED.

A second law, AB 2346, sets a 10 mph sidewalk speed limit starting Jan. 1, 2027. Class II e-bikes manufactured, sold or offered for sale on or after Jan. 1, 2029, must have a speedometer. All e-bikes manufactured, sold or offered for sale from that date must also have front and rear lights.

A third bill, AB 2595, creates a pilot program allowing municipalities in San Mateo County to ban children under 12 from riding Class I or II e-bikes until Jan. 1, 2031. That pilot does not apply to Walnut Creek, which is in Contra Costa County. State law already bars children under 16 from riding Class III e-bikes.

On Sept. 18, 2025, a minor crashed a Surron Light Bee e-moto into a minivan at Treat Boulevard and Arkell Road in Walnut Creek, suffering severe injuries that required emergency care. The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office later charged two Benicia parents with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly allowing the minor to ride the device repeatedly from ages 14 to 17, according to Contra Costa News.

Walnut Creek police Lt. Drew Olson said in April 2026 that officers who stop young riders focus on education first.

A UC San Diego study published in July 2026 found a sharp increase in reported e-bike collision injuries in California between 2018 and 2024.