Brookfield officials may approve an ordinance to regulate who can ride electric bicycles and other similar devices in town and where the bikes can be used.
Deputy Police Chief Terry Schreiber outlined the ordinance to the Board of Trustees at its April 13 committee of the whole meeting. The proposal would categorize e-bikes into three categories based on their mechanisms and top speeds and bar them from sidewalks. It also addresses the allowable age of riders. It is similar to an ordinance Riverside officials passed in December.
“Since last year, about 11 months or so, we have 43 different complaints of e-bikes in conflicts with cars, pedestrians, juveniles, destruction of property, all of those types of calls,” Schreiber said. “For a semi-seasonal type of device, that’s a significantly high call volume. The complaints and issues are definitely out there.”
In an email to the Landmark, Schreiber said several people, including minors, were injured in some of the 43 e-bike-related incidents.
The three categories are: class one e-bikes, which use a motor to assist pedaling riders in accelerating up to 20 mph; class two e-bikes, which can move up to 20 mph with only the motor; and class three e-bikes, which can accelerate up to 28 mph using a pedal-assist motor like class one.
“Essentially, class one and two are prohibited on sidewalks, and class three is prohibited on sidewalks or multi-use paths” like park walkways, Schreiber said. “They can be operated on streets. They can be operated on bike lanes. Where the most conflict is operating these on sidewalks.”
The ordinance would also carve out categories for electric scooters, which can only reach a top speed of 10 mph, and moto bikes, which can exceed 20 mph speeds with only the use of the motor and have higher wattage motors than e-bikes.
Class three e-bikes would be restricted to operators aged 16 and up while e-scooters would be restricted to those 18 or older.
Moto bikes will be entirely prohibited on all public property.
“There are no speed restrictions on them. There are no safety restrictions on them. Essentially, look at them like mini motorcycles operating on sidewalks, operating on the street,” Schreiber said. “This is probably the most hazardous level.”
Initially, Schreiber suggested banning e-scooters from multi-use paths as well as sidewalks, but members of the village board found the restriction unnecessary due to their low speeds compared to class one and two e-bikes, which would be allowed on multi-use paths.
He said the police department would work with local schools, should trustees vote to adopt the ordinance on April 27, to educate students on what they can ride and where.
“[We want to] explain to them not only what you can do and what you can’t do, but why the ‘can’t do’ exists and some examples of the dangers that it presents by doing those things,” he said. “We’ll direct [officers], when they’re out there and they see kids riding around to just stop them and talk to them.”
He said enforcement of the ordinance would be on a case-by-case basis and largely involve giving warnings in cases of misconduct, only escalating to an arrest if necessary due to repeated issues.
Members of the board generally seemed supportive of the measures to keep more people safe from running into an electric bike on the sidewalk.
“We should keep in mind there are real benefits to this technology and the growth of e-bikes … People are still riding, but they’re getting a boost, so maybe they’re comfortable riding further,” Trustee Kyle Whitehead said. “They’re working on state legislation right now that’s in committee that would cover a lot of what we’re proposing here, but I’m supportive of the police department suggesting we take action, because we can’t be certain what’s going to happen in Springfield.”
Trustee Nicole Gilhooley raised the point that some e-bikers might need to use a sidewalk temporarily for safety reasons, like when cresting a hill without sightlines.
“It comes down to a level of discretion. Nothing’s an absolute. No one’s looking at it from the perspective of, if it touches the sidewalk, [it’s an] ordinance violation,” Schreiber said.
