(Gray News) - Officials issued a consumer alert to crack down on e-bike misuse.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other Bay Area district attorneys issued the consumer alert to “remind manufacturers, retailers, consumers and parents that California has important safety laws regarding the sale and use of electric bicycles, also known as e-bikes.”

Bonta said the state is seeing a surge of safety incidents on sidewalks, in parks and on streets related to e-bikes.

“Bike riders and parents: If your or your teen’s electric two-wheeled vehicle goes too fast, it might be a motorcycle or a moped — not an e-bike,” Bonta said.

Manufacturers of Class I and Class II e-bikes set a speed limit of 20 mph, based on federal law, but some people know how to modify them to make them go faster than allowed.

The speed limit for Class III e-bikes is 28 mph. If they go over that, they are considered “e-motos.”

At that point, they have the same requirements as a moped, which requires a helmet, a driver’s license, a license plate and insurance.

“Consumers, and especially parents of teenage children, should carefully check that the product they want to purchase legally qualifies as an electric bicycle. If not, it may actually be a motorcycle ... This is a matter of both consumer protection and public safety,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

According to a study by the University of California, San Francisco, rider injuries from e-bikes nearly doubled each year from 2017 to 2022.