Oceanside and Encinitas could allow confiscation of e-bikes

Two North County cities are bucking the trend and considering different e-bike regulations than their neighbors. 

As several cities in San Diego County ban children under 12 years old from using e-bikes, Oceanside and Encinitas have instead proposed allowing law enforcement to confiscate e-bikes for “reckless operation.” 

Types of e-bikes

Class 1 bikes provides pedal-assistance only and the motor stops assisting when the bike reaches 20 mph.

Class 2 bikes can operate via throttle or pedal-assist, but the motor also stops assisting at 20 mph.

Class 3 bikes provide pedal-assist up to 28 mph. Existing laws prohibit people under 16 from operating Class 3 e-bikes.

The Oceanside City Council is set to adopt new rules on Wednesday that will allow police to temporarily confiscate e-bikes for what officials described as safety reasons, including for people with two or more bike-related criminal violations within a year. The bikes would be held as evidence until the case is closed, and the owner can get it back afterwards without paying any fees. 

The city also moved to ban people from carrying another passenger on e-bikes that aren’t purpose built for one. 

But the new Oceanside proposal does not include adopting the state law that allows cities in the county to ban children under 12 from riding the bikes. That law went into effect at the start of 2025. Thus far, Carlsbad, Poway, San Marcos, Chula Vista, Coronado and Santee have adopted the age requirement. 

Oceanside Police Department Capt. Scott Garrett said the city’s “unique approach” comes from the fact that most of the incidents do not include riders under 12: Out of the 139 citations Oceanside has issued for bicycle-related offenses since September 2024, 11.5% have been for riders under 12. 

“The vast majority of our data reflects an older demographic, and then the proposal that we made would still affect 12-and-under riders,” Garrett told inewsource. “We also wanted to respect the idea that there may be a population of law-abiding 12 and unders that follow the rules, that use the bikes to go to and from school, and so we didn’t want to just carte blanche ban them if they were following the rules.” 

The confiscation is meant to reduce the likelihood of repeated unsafe behavior without forcing families to pay monetary fines. 

Oceanside councilmembers unanimously voted in favor of the ordinance last week. No members of the public spoke about the proposal during the meeting. After the council’s second vote Wednesday, the new rules will go into effect on Feb. 28. 

In Encinitas, councilmembers will consider similar measures for the first time on Wednesday.

Under a proposal from Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara, Encinitas would authorize the sheriff’s department to temporarily confiscate e-bikes for “reckless operation” or three-time offenders. The city contracts with the sheriff for public safety services.

Enforcement would specifically focus on high-traffic areas like Highway 101. The council will also vote on whether to implement “dismount zones” and “walking speed” in pedestrian-heavy areas, such as downtown Encinitas and Cardiff. 

The ordinance also proposes a “fix-it” ticket system that waives fines for the completion of a certified safety course, which the city hopes will shift the focus from punishment to behavior modification. 

Rise of e-bikes and regulations

E-bikes have been on the rise in recent years, as have the accidents and complaints that come with them. 

Oceanside has seen a dramatic increase in e-bike-related calls for service, according to city data. The city projects 844 calls for service in 2025, nearly double the 449 calls the year prior. That’s compared to just 69 calls for service in 2021. 

The city of Carlsbad sponsored the state law that bans e-bike riders under 12, and passed its own local restrictions in December. 

But leaders and community members said that the rules did not go far enough to address teenagers’ unsafe e-bike use. Carlsbad councilmembers voted to also look into state legislation that would allow them to raise the age requirement to 16, like a pilot program in Marin County just north of San Francisco.

Carlsbad also created a rule that allows it to take away e-bikes in violation of certain policies and enacted bans at Poinsettia and Pine Avenue community parks, where there were close to 70 calls for service between January and October 2025. It further directed the city manager to look into potential restrictions at other parks.

“E-bikes have so much value in the sense that obviously it provides sustainable mobility options, independence, and then, of course, reduces car trips,” Carlsbad Mayor Pro Tempore Priya Bhat-Patel said at the time. “But we can’t ignore the mismatch between the capabilities of these machines, which is, really, honestly, can be scary.”