A 13-year-old boy riding an off-highway e-motorcycle at an estimated 35 mph died Thursday, May 7, after he hit a center median and was thrown off the machine in Garden Grove, authorities said.
The crash happened along Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue about 9:50 p.m., Garden Grove police Sgt. Nick Jensen said.
Officers received a call regarding the crash and arrived to find the boy, a Santa Ana resident, being loaded into an ambulance by paramedics, Jensen said. He was unconscious.
The boy, who was wearing a regular bicycle helmet, died at the hospital, Jensen said.
Investigators learned the boy had been riding in the left lane along southbound Magnolia Street when he hit the median, Jensen said. The southbound lanes turn to the right while crossing Larson Avenue.
Why the boy was riding in Garden Grove at that hour was not known.
A photo of the e-motorcycle was posted by Garden Grove police on Instagram, showing the device had pegs, not pedals.
Off-road electric motorcycles, which are equipped with pegs instead of pedals, are not legal to ride on public streets in California.
In contrast, some e-bikes, specifically Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes that are pedal-assisted, can be ridden by children under 16 years old with a helmet and have a maximum speed of 20 mph, according to state law.
Class 3 e-bikes, which can reach 28 mph, are limited to riders ages 16 and older, with those under 18 years old required to wear a helmet.
In recent months, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has filed charges against parents after their children were involved in e-motorcycle crashes.
In March, a Yorba Linda father was charged with felony child endangerment and abuse and a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly gifting the boy an e-motorcycle and then working with the boy to modify it to reach speeds up to 60 mph before the boy ran a red light and was hit by a car in July. The boy suffered several injuries, including a concussion, skull fracture, broken wrist and fractured femur, prosecutors said.
The e-motorcycle had been impounded previously after the boy received a citation in December 2024, prosecutors said. The boy, his father and his brother attended a Yorba Linda Police Services e-bike safety course the following month.
Then, in April, an Aliso Viejo mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter and other charges after her son was allegedly doing wheelies on an e-motorcycle near El Toro High School in Lake Forest and struck an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran, authorities said. The man died weeks after the April 16 crash and prosecutors alleged the boy’s mother had previously been warned about the dangers of allowing her son to ride the e-motorcycle.
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