Marin County Grand Jury
• 2024-2025
• Agency Response
Response to:
Cyberattacks: A Growing Threat to Marin Government
Response to Grand Jury Report Form Town of Tiburon Alice Fredericks Mayor*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
The increasing number of e-bike accidents involving youths under the age of 16 presents a public health and safety danger in Marin. Response- The Town of Tiburon agrees with this Finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
By December 31, 2024, the Board of Supervisors, and each municipality in Marin should take all steps necessary to adopt an ordinance with regard to class 2 e-bikes with, at minimum, the following provisions: a. Only people aged 16 or older may operate class 2 e-bikes. b. Operators of class 2 e-bikes must wear helmets. c. All passengers on class 2 e-bikes must wear helmets. Response- This recommendation requires further analysis Regarding proposed Provision A, both Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes have motors that are limited to 750 watts and must stop providing motor assistance at 20mph. The only difference being that Class 2 e-bikes are equipped with a throttle allowing the bikes motor to provide assistance without the rider pedaling. Although this capability in Class 2 e-bikes increases the complexity of riding this type of e-bike, we have not seen clear evidence suggesting the presence of a throttle alone inherently causes more accidents than pedal assist only e-bikes (Class 1 and Class 3). In addition, if enacted, AB 1778 would provide a clearer framework for Marin County jurisdictions to consider and enact additional restrictions if warranted in the future. With regards to proposed provisions B and C, the California Vehicle Code adequately codifies the usage of helmets for e-bikes based on age and class of E-Bike, with CVC 21212 requiring all operators and passengers under 18 years of age shall wear a helmet when riding an e-Bike.
F2
The operation of class 2 e-bikes by operators under the age of 16 poses a significant risk to the safety of e-bike operators, other bike riders, passengers, and pedestrians on sidewalks, streets, multi-use paths, and trails in Marin. Response- The Town of Tiburon agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
By December 31, 2024, the County of Marin and each municipality in Marin should take all steps necessary to establish a joint task force or committee to investigate and consider coordination among the county and municipalities about Town of Tiburon • 1505 Tiburon Boulevard • Tiburon, CA 94920 • P. 415.435.7373 F. 415.435.2438 • www.townoftiburon.org adopting a county-wide uniform set of regulations regarding e-bike use within the County of Marin. Response- This recommendation requires further analysis Alice Fredericks Tiburon town staff have been informally collaborating with staff from other jurisdictions Mayor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . on this matter and would be happy to support and participate in a more formal group in Holli Thier the future. Vice Mayor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F3
The emerging and increasing safety issues related to class 2 e-bike use by operators under the age of 16 has not been addressed by Marin County or the municipalities in a uniform manner. Response- The Town of Tiburon agrees with this Finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Any task force or committee as described in Recommendation 2, above, Isaac Nikfar should consider inviting representatives from Marin County schools, law Councilmember enforcement, public health officials, and bicycle advocates to provide their input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Response- This recommendation requires further analysis Jack Ryan Councilmember As noted in our response to R3, the Town would support the formation of a countywide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . group to discuss e-bike use and regulations, and would agree that any group formed for Jon Welner this purpose should seek input from a wide group of stakeholders, including the entities Councilmember listed in the recommendation
F4
For all practical purposes, the state of California has abdicated its responsibility to regulate the use of class 2 e-bikes, leaving it up to the County of Marin and the Marin municipalities to create their own regulations. Response- The Town of Tiburon disagrees with this finding. Town of Tiburon • 1505 Tiburon Boulevard • Tiburon, CA 94920 • P. 415.435.7373 F. 415.435.2438 • www.townoftiburon.org Although the Town would welcome additional efforts from both the State and Federal level regarding more uniform regulations related to E-bikes, there have been numerous pieces of legislation introduced over the past 10 years related to e- Alice Fredericks bike safety and ridership. Mayor State Assembly Bill 1096 (Chiu, 2015): currently regulates class 2 and 9 Holli Thier other e-bikes. Among its provisions is a requirement that all riders under Vice Mayor ............. age 17 wear a helmet on any type of bicycle; that the maximum speed for Isaac Nikfar a class 2 e-bike be established at 20 mph; and that all e-bikes in California Councilmember be equipped with an identifying sticker for use by traffic enforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Senate Bill 381 (Min, 2023): requires the Mineta Transportation • Jack Ryan Institute at San Jose State University to conduct a study to inform efforts Councilmember to improve the safety of e-bikes and to submit a report of the findings from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the study to the Legislature by January 2026. The bill would require the Jon Welner Councilmember study to examine, identify, and analyze available information regarding, among other things, data on injuries, crashes, emergency room visits, and deaths related to bicycles and electric bicycles and best practices for policy to promote safe use of electric bicycles. Greg Chanis Town Manager Proposed State Assembly Bill 2234 (Boerner, 2024): would authorize . the San Diego Electric Bicycle Safety Pilot Program, authorizing a local authority within the County of San Diego, or the County of San Diego in unincorporated areas, to adopt an ordinance or resolution that would prohibit a person under 12 years of age from operating a class 1 or 2 electric bicycle. When first introduced, AB 2234 proposed to prohibit children under 12 from operating e-bikes of any class statewide and would also require all e-bike riders to either possess a driver's license or pass an e-bike safety course. The bill was later modified to be limited to San Diego County. This bill was introduced in the previous session as AB 530. Proposed State Assembly Bill 2259 (Boerner, 2024): Would require the California State Transportation Agency (DMV) to develop and distribute, on or before September 1, 2025, a bicycle safety handbook that includes information on, among other things, existing laws regulating bicycles and e-bikes. Proposed State Assembly Bill 1774 (Dixon, 2024): Aims to curb the sales of e-bike modification devices which can increase the speed of e- bikes through after-market modifications. The bill would prohibit the sale of any product or device that can modify the speed capability of an electric bicycle such that it no longer meets the definition of an electric bicycle. Proposed Assembly Bill 1778 (Connolly, 2024): Would allow Marin County, or any municipality in Marin County, to adopt ordinances limiting the age of class 2 e-bike riders to 16 and older, and would require all class- 2 e-bike riders to wear a helmet. When first introduced, AB 1778 proposed to prohibit youth under 16 from operating class 2 e-bikes statewide, but was later modified to be limited to Marin County. Town of Tiburon • 1505 Tiburon Boulevard • Tiburon, CA 94920 • P. 415.435.7373 F. 415.435.2438 • www.townoftiburon.org
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
By December 31, 2024, the Board of Supervisors should explore options for additional funding for student and public education in Marin County about e-bike Greg Chanis Town Manager safety. Response- This recommendation should be commented on by the County of Marin Board of Supervisors. Sincere Greg Chanis, Town Manager Town of Tiburon
F5
The funding to continue the e-bike specific safety and training program (E- bike Smart Marin) provided by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition is not sustainable without new sources of funding. Alice Fredericks Response- The Town of Tiburon partially disagree with this finding. Mayor The Town cannot completely agree or disagree with this finding as we are not adequately Holli Thier informed as to the funding of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. Vice Mayor . . . . . . . . Isaac Nikfar
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Marin County public schools are not currently able to implement additional Councilmember bicycle safety training programs for students, beyond what has been offered by ..... Safe Routes to Schools for many years Jack Ryan Response- The Town of Tiburon partially disagrees with this finding. Councilmember . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Town cannot completely agree or disagree with this finding as we are not adequately Jon Welner informed as to the ability of individual school districts to provide additional programs Councilmember related to bicycle safety.
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.