“I find myself deeply concerned about the children I’ve seen riding e-motos and electric bicycles around Benicia.”

By Ethan Dale, former Benician, April 2, 2026

I saw this headline this morning: “California prosecutors charge parents with child abuse following e-moto crash” – and it caused me great concern.

As a person who rides bicycle, drives a car and also rides a internal-combustion powered motorcycle, I find myself deeply concerned about the children I’ve seen riding e-motos and electric bicycles around Benicia.

I don’t know how it is that the parents in Benicia who buy e-motos for their children justify this to themselves, but it worries me that the combination of older drivers (with increased reaction times and attention deficits) and teens/younger kids on electric motorcycles and electric bicycles that are heavier and faster than pushbikes is a potentially deadly one.

These young riders of e-motos and electric bikes engage in risky and dangerous behaviors, and aren’t always wearing helmets (state law requires a helmet of any bicycle or moto rider under the age of 16). I’ve had them pass me on the right at stop signs without stopping while I was driving my car, swarm me on my bicycle doing wheelies, and ride on the sidewalk at high speeds. IN BENICIA. I have to assume they’re seeing this behavior modeled on Youtube, and think they live in a safe enough place that nothing bad can happen to them. The parents that allow these behaviors and enable them by purchasing the vehicles clearly think this way.

I don’t know if Benicia’s police department is doing much on the enforcement side, but it would probably be well past time they started to pull over and cite the kids and hold the parents responsible. The e-motos are not legal for street use to start with in many cases, and there are learner’s permits that are required for the rider to have in some cases.

I no longer live in Benicia, but I have family who do and every time I’ve been back there since I moved to Berkeley earlier this year I’ve seen a kid on one of these machines. I wish people were more aware of the dangers. I don’t think anyone wants their kid to die, or for the parents to end up destitute after being sued because of a preventable accident.

I am including a link below to the website hosted by the Danville Bicycle Advocacy organization – they have done a fantastic job of pulling together information about this topic and clarifying the differences between the various types of e-motos and e-bikes. They also have a number of articles about accidents that have happened in Danville, enforcement efforts by the Danville PD, and others.

I suggest that anyone concerned about these machines and their potentially deadly impact on other cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles educate themselves. I would really like to see Benicia PD take a stance on these issues, and begin enforcing the law by pulling over, citing and potentially impounding the vehicles that are being used illegally.

Ethan Dale
Former Benician