Changes to CA Laws re: E-Bike Liability

Electric bicycles have changed the way California families move. Middle schoolers ride them to campus, high schoolers commute to part-time jobs, and parents tolerate the speed because the alternative is another car trip and another set of keys handed over. Two new California laws taking effect in 2026, paired with an aggressive push from district attorneys to charge parents criminally after serious teenage e-bike crashes, have transformed what was a casual transportation choice into a meaningful source of civil and criminal exposure for the adult who bought the bike.

California Vehicle Code section 312.5 has long divided electric bicycles into three classes based on how the motor works and how fast it will assist the rider. A Class 1 bike has pedal-assist only and tops out at 20 mph. A Class 2 bike adds a throttle but still cuts off at 20 mph. A Class 3 bike is pedal-assist only, can reach 28 mph with a working speedometer, requires a helmet for every rider regardless of age, and is restricted to operators 16 and older. Bikes that exceed 750 watts of motor power, or that lack functional pedals, are not e-bikes at all under California law. They are mopeds or motor-driven cycles and require licensing, registration, and insurance.

Two new bills tighten this framework. Assembly Bill 544 requires every electric bicycle to display a red rear reflector or a built-in red rear light visible from 500 feet, at all times, day and night. The same statute lets minors who receive a helmet citation resolve it by completing a CHP-developed e-bike safety course and producing proof of a properly fitted helmet. Assembly Bill 875, separately, authorizes law enforcement to impound any vehicle with fewer than four wheels capable of exceeding 20 mph when it is being operated by an unlicensed individual, including a minor under 16 riding a Class 3 e-bike. The impoundment authority matters, because it gives officers a real enforcement tool where, before, the only option was a citation that often went unpaid.

The more dramatic shift, however, has come from local prosecutors. In Orange County last year, a father was charged with felony child endangerment under Penal Code section 273a after his 12-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury riding a modified electric motorbike that had been marketed as an e-bike but was capable of speeds above 60 mph. The Riverside County District Attorney has issued public warnings that parents who provide age-inappropriate or modified electric bikes to minors may face the same charges. These are not run-of-the-mill traffic infractions. A child endangerment conviction can mean prison time and a permanent record, and the criminal exposure is independent of any civil suit that follows.

On the civil side, the legal theory that almost always applies in these cases is negligent entrustment. When an adult provides a vehicle to someone who cannot legally or safely operate it, and that operator then causes a foreseeable injury, the entrustor is liable for the resulting harm. In e-bike cases, attorneys representing the injured party will subpoena the purchase records to find out who bought the bike, whether the retailer disclosed its Class 3 status and the corresponding age restriction, and whether the parent had actual knowledge of what was being handed over. A father who buys his 13-year-old a 28-mph Class 3 bike, or worse, a 60-mph modified machine, has handed the plaintiff a near-automatic claim for parental liability.

The exposure runs both directions. When the child is the one injured, parents often discover that the same purchase decision that exposes them to liability when their child hurts someone else also weakens the child's claim against the truly negligent driver. A defense attorney will argue comparative fault, pointing to the child's age, the bike's classification, the absence of a helmet, the missing reflector, or the modified motor. Each of those factors can reduce the recovery, and in extreme cases can erase it. The same parent who bought the bike to keep the child safe ends up holding documentary evidence the insurance company uses against the family.

California also tightened the supply side. Effective January 1, 2026, it is illegal to sell a product, device, or application that modifies an e-bike's speed capability such that the bike no longer meets the legal definition of an electric bicycle. The "Class 2 unlock" cables and aftermarket controllers that have been openly sold online and in some California bike shops are now a violation, and a retailer who sells them in connection with a minor's bike will face direct exposure in any later injury claim. For families researching a purchase, this means the bike that came home from a small shop with a "performance tune" may be a different machine, legally, than what was advertised.

What should parents do before the next school year begins? Verify in writing what class the bike is rated, save the purchase receipt and the manufacturer's labeling, confirm that the bike has not been altered, and require helmets for every ride regardless of class. Make the rules clear and document the conversations. If your child rides a Class 3 bike and is under 16, the bike must come off the road, full stop. And if you are involved in a crash, whether your child caused it or was hit by another vehicle, speak with a personal injury attorney before you give any statement to an insurance adjuster. The e-bike question is now too legally loaded to handle without one.

Electric bikes are not going away. They have become embedded in California family life the way scooters were a decade ago and skateboards before that. The 2026 laws are not designed to drive them out; they are designed to bring some discipline to a transportation choice that, until recently, sat in a regulatory gray zone. Parents who treat the rules seriously protect not only the children they love but the financial future of the household. The families who do not pay attention may find out, the hard way, what an inappropriate e-bike actually costs.