The Newport Beach Police Department conducted a traffic safety operation on Saturday, July 9, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Newport Beach Police Department’s Traffic Division and Peninsula Enforcement Team (PET) partnered together in a joint operation to address any unsafe e-bike traffic with heavy enforcement as well as education.

This first operation focused on the peninsula area to include the oceanfront boardwalk. The oceanfront boardwalk is important to the City of Newport Beach and offers both residents and visitors of Newport Beach a unique opportunity to enjoy the coastline. As a result, Officers saturated the oceanfront boardwalk to observe, educate, and enforce unsafe operations. The use of multiple LIDAR speed measuring devices contributed to the success of the operation:

198      Boardwalk users were contacted

82        Of the contacts were juveniles

60        Citations or warnings were issued

55        Of the citations or warnings were issued to bike riders

12        Of the citations or warnings were issued to juveniles

Additional e-bike traffic safety operations in the city are expected through summer.

Over the last year, the electric bike industry has boomed. E-bikes are now very popular throughout Orange County’s Beach Communities, especially here in Newport Beach. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of e-bikes on the roads, trails, and sidewalks within our community. Unfortunately, we have also seen a noticeable increase in traffic law violations that have caused some safety concerns.

Both the Newport Beach Police Department and the City of Newport Beach regularly receive complaints regarding e-bikes. The complaints include such things as children not wearing helmets, unsafe operations, California Vehicle Code (CVC) violations, and near collisions between e-bike riders and pedestrians.

The ultimate goal of these operations are to encourage the safe and responsible operation of e-bikes. We will accomplish this by heavily enforcing the law against violators while at the same time educating these e-bike riders on the rules of the road as well as provide e-bike traffic safety tips. The Newport Beach Police Department strongly believes that these traffic safety operations with both their heavy enforcement and accompanied education will enhance the safety of both the residents and visitors to our community.

Heather Rangel, Press Information Officer
949-644-3662
hrangel@nbpd.org