From CalBike.org
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CalBike has 14 bills on its legislative watchlist this year, and almost half of them (six) are e-bike regulations. As we have documented repeatedly over the past couple of years, the swift rise in the popularity of e-bikes has led to an equally swift backlash. Local leaders have conflated legal e-bikes with illegal e-motorcycles improperly sold as e-bikes, imposed e-bike restrictions after car drivers killed people riding e-bikes, and generally painted e-bikes as the biggest menace on the roads today. So it’s no surprise that state lawmakers have taken notice, crafting a raft of bills designed to “fix” the “problem.” We would prefer to have just one e-bike bill that could garner bipartisan support; perhaps by the end of the session, legislators will have homed in on an approach to e-bike regulation that all stakeholders can agree on.