Huntington Beach Police Department hosts symposium on e-bike safety

Duke and Val Aipa spoke lovingly about their late son Kolby at a California electric device safety symposium held May 13 at the Huntington Beach Senior Center. Kolby Aipa, 20, the grandson of renowned surfboard shaper Ben Aipa, died last August after an e-bike accident on Pacific Coast Highway in Surf City, his hometown. Val Aipa said her son dutifully wore a helmet until he turned 18. But at that point, riding a Class 1 e-bicycle, he was no longer required to do so. "Now we're paying the consequences of that, and having to talk to you here today," she said. "If you have kids, imagine signing their death certificate … calling all of their credit card companies that you helped build up for them. I know that this isn't the sexy part of police work, but we need your help." The symposium was attended by dozens of law enforcement officers from around Southern California, as well as policymaker representatives, doctors and more. It was emceed by Ernie Sanchez, law enforcement liaison at the California Office of Traffic Safety. E-bikes have become big news in the last few years — although "e-bike" isn't always the correct classification; sometimes vehicles commonly referred to as e-bikes are actually e-motorcycles. In Lake Forest, an 81-year-old substitute teacher died on April 30, a couple of weeks after allegedly being struck by a teenage boy riding a Surron e-motorcycle. Charges were filed against the 14-year-old's mother, because prosecutors allege she was warned that her son had been driving recklessly and that it was against the law for him to ride the vehicle. Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer recently announced an e-bike and e-motorcycle prosecution unit, Ride Safely. "He has made it clear that if parents are not going to hold their children accountable, that we're going to have to hold these parents accountable," O.C. Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Elisa Kim said at the symposium. Last August, California passed two new laws authored by Assemblymember Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel). Assembly Bill 544 required e-bikes to be equipped with a red reflector or flashing red light when ridden in the dark, while AB 545 strengthened existing rules against modifying e-bikes to exceed legal speed limits. In Orange County, e-bike crashes have skyrocketed from 34 in 2020 to 347 in 2025, according to California Highway Patrol data. E-bikes are designated in three classes. Class 1 e-bikes have no throttle and Class 2 e-bikes have a throttle, with both reaching a maximum of 20 miles per hour. Class 3 e-bikes offer pedal-assist modes and can reach up to 28 miles per hour. Anything that goes faster is designated as an e-motorcycle, which is not street legal. "Talking to parents, they're like, ‘Yeah, my kid wants to get a Surron,'" said Cameron Houlston, traffic investigator with the Huntington Beach Police Department. "And I'm like, ‘Well, the mere existence of your kid on a Surron in the street is illegal.' We will take that bike. We will enforce the vehicle code on that, and we will take that bike for 30 days, sometimes more." Huntington Beach amended its municipal code in 2023 to give the police department more leeway to crack down on dangerous riders. The city also has an e-bike training program for students, with curriculum developed by Sgt. Mike Thomas. Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon said that after getting elected to the City Council in 2022, he was surprised to hear from Police Chief Eric Parra that e-bikes were the No. 1 issue in the town. "To me, it just really comes down to parenting," McKeon said at the symposium. "I have two small children, and I just can't imagine buying them a $2,000-plus vehicle. I remember when I was trying to get my first truck, I begged my dad for $600, had to mow the lawn and a bunch of those things. I can't imagine giving my children a heavy motorcycle, essentially, without teaching them the rules of the road." Duke Aipa said that if had seen the information presented at the symposium, he never would have let Kolby out of the house without a helmet. Dr. Laura Goodman, a pediatric and trauma surgeon for Children's Hospital of Orange County, discussed several prevention strategies. They include going slow, wearing a helmet, riding smart by knowing the rules of the road and using lights and reflectors, knowing your class of e-bike and advocating for separated bike lanes. Jesse Hayes has been made an e-bike ambassador for Huntington Beach. Hayes was seriously injured in an e-bike accident in October 2024, when he was riding on the wrong side of the road and was struck by a car making an illegal left turn. Jesse had turned 18 that summer, so his parents decided to let him ride his e-bike by himself. "We were at that phase of parenting that is so hard," Jesse's mother, Kasey Hayes, said at the symposium. "You're trying to give your children independence while keeping them safe." In a coma for months, he now continues on his road to recovery. "With the amount of e-bikes that we now have on the road, something absolutely has to change," Kasey Hayes said. "It is my hope and prayer that those that have the ability to make real change in this growing, very real threat to our youth choose to do so."