A Redlands Police Department video has put a public face on a problem the agency says is worth a community-wide warning: off-road electric motorcycles being ridden on public streets, . Their riders are also causing issues when trying to escape being caught. A video shared to Facebook makes the case in two parts. One part is shot from a Redlands motorcycle officer’s perspective and the other is shot from the air.
According to the department’s “Life Lessons with RPD” post, the video opens with a motorcycle officer following a rider on a small, dark electric motorcycle through a suburban Redlands neighborhood. The bike has the profile of an electric dirt bike rather than a street-legal motorcycle. A second rider comes into frame.
The riders then move away from the officer. The footage cuts between the motorcycle officer’s perspective and a separate camera shot from high above the city. That second perspective is a Redlands police drone the department calls Drone Mav-1.
What follows in the video is the message Redlands police want the public to take away after watching. The riders may have thought they could put enough distance, speed or side streets between themselves and the officer to disappear. The drone footage shows otherwise. In other words, they aren’t going to win against the authorities when they’re in the wrong.
What the Video Shows
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The Redlands Police Department posted the video as part of its “Life Lessons with RPD” series and used the caption to warn the community that off-road electric motorcycles are illegal on the roadways. They also made it clear that running from the police is a felony, and that riders really can’t outrun the officers’ drone.
Under California rules, a true e-bike must have fully operable pedals, a motor power limit of 750 watts. and an assisted speed limit of 20 mph for Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes, or 28 mph for Class 3 e-bikes. There are stringent definitions to follow to make sure the law is taken into account when offenders get into trouble with these rides. Just the same, they maybe different depending on the area.
How Beverly Hills Treats E-Bike Rules
The Beverly Hills Police Department’s public safety rules explain that electric motorcycles don’t meet the e-bike definition when they come without pedals you can operate, exceed 28 mph, and require DMV registration, a valid driver’s license with a motorcycle endorsement, and insurance. That matters because plenty of the machines now in circulation are described as “e-bikes”, even though California law doesn’t treat every electric two-wheeler the same way.
California Vehicle Code 2800.2 makes it a felony for someone to flee or attempt to get away from a police officer while driving with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property, with punishments that can include a term of six months to a year in county jail or state prison and a possible fine.
That’s a good reason to go by the officers’ warning: that off-road electric motorcycles aren’t the same thing as e-bikes, that public roads aren’t off-road trails, and running from the police will land you in prison.