Charlotte council tells CMPD to draft new rules for e-bikes ‘whizzing around’ city
Charlotte is considering new electric bike regulations that could restrict where the vehicles are allowed and more clearly differentiate between low-speed and high-speed options that carry greater safety risks.
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Residents in some pockets of the city elevated the vehicles as a top concern because they cause damage and, in some cases, injuries. Officials say broad labels create confusion among people who don’t always realize what they are buying.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Cpt. Jeremiah Blow said during a Monday City Council meeting most of the e-bikes riding around his patrol division in uptown don’t even have pedals.
“Two weekends ago we got a 12-year-old at 1 a.m. on one of these. We called his parents, and they’re like, ‘Well, he’s just on his e-bike,’” Blow said. “So there’s just a lot of confusion among everybody. Everybody uses that term ‘e-bike,’ but they’re really just motorcycles flying up and down the streets.”
The City Council’s safety committee didn’t take any immediate action on Monday. But council members showed an appetite for adopting tighter rules similar to a couple of nearby towns.
Councilwoman Dante Anderson, who chairs the safety committee, requested CMPD draft a proposal for a city ordinance change, include definitions for the different vehicle types and specify how rules for each would be enforced. The topic will return to the committee with more detail before advancing to the full council for a vote.
Cornelius and Davidson have both enacted local ordinances since December requiring minors to wear helmets and e-bikes to have brakes and lamps. The Charlotte-area towns also set the following rules, which Charlotte could pull from, according to Assistant City Attorney Jessica Battle:
Anderson said the discussion isn’t an attack on e-bikes, which have positive attributes. Rather, the city is looking to make streets safer for riders and pedestrians.
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“It’s just a matter of time before a young person in particular gets hurt because many of them are on roadways without helmets or protective gear, and they’re traveling at pretty high speeds,” Anderson said.
Councilwoman Kimberly Owens, who has championed the issue, said she met with a resident who spent several days in the hospital after colliding with an electric skateboard on a greenway. But greenways are county maintained, so Owens suggested the city coordinate with Mecklenburg County to make sure regulations are consistent.
E-bike safety is the topic she hears about most frequently from her south Charlotte constituents, Owens said.
“Not only around the safety of children who are riding these and are potentially in traffic and who they may hit, but also about their own concerns as pedestrians on our sidewalks,” Owens said.
Even if the city adopts more rigid rules, Councilman Ed Driggs said he’s concerned about enforcement.
“I don’t see officers chasing after somebody on an e-bike,” Driggs said. “Which is too bad because I see people that look like children whizzing around on these things.”
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