Concerns Mount Over Young Riders Operating E-Bikes and E-Motos

From his post at the intersection of North Street and Elmwood Avenue this spring, Burlington School District crossing guard Richard Hillyard noticed a worrying trend: children as young as 9 or 10 were riding to and from school on electric bikes and electric scooters. Some wore helmets and obeyed the rules of the road; others did not.

Hillyard shouted warnings when he saw children riding recklessly, such as by weaving from the street onto sidewalks and back again. Often, the riders had accelerated halfway down the block by the time his words came out.

On a Tuesday afternoon in May, he was ushering students across the street, telling them like a doting grandfather to do their homework. He watched an elementary school-age boy zip up the sidewalk on an e-bike, his little sister sitting behind him, clinging to his waist. Neither wore a helmet.

“It’s the Wild West,” Hillyard lamented.

The crossing guard isn’t the only adult who has identified an emerging problem in kids’ unsafe use of both e-bikes and e-motos, a faster electric vehicle with no pedals that resembles a small motorcycle. Officials in Chittenden County towns including South Burlington, Colchester and Winooski say they’re worried, too.

E-bikes have been around for years and have been hailed by environmental and biking advocates as an eco-friendly alternative to cars and a means of making cycling more accessible. But the proliferation of more powerful electric conveyances and their growing use by children has prompted communities to take action. Some towns have clarified their regulations on social media and posted restrictions along bike paths. Others whose ordinances don’t address e-bikes or e-motos are considering adopting rules.

Vermont’s statutes do set some basic limits. Riders must be at least 16 years old to ride e-motos and class 3 electric bikes. Class 3 bikes can achieve speeds of 28 miles per hour compared to 20 mph for less powerful class 1 and 2 bikes. Vermont also prohibits e-motos on recreation paths; those vehicles can go as fast as 55 mph.

Burlington City Councilor Mark Barlow (D-North District) said he regularly hears from constituents about unsettling encounters with young people riding e-bikes and e-motos. He has personally been “flipped off” by young riders on the city’s bike path when he’s asked them to slow down. “This is new, uncharted territory for everyone,” he said.

“We have this lawless behavior that’s disregarding other users of bike paths, and also on the street and sidewalks,” Barlow said. “I think it’s got to be handled through adult intervention.”

We have this lawless behavior that’s disregarding other users of bike paths.
Burlington City councilor Mark Barlow

Young people have been seriously hurt in accidents on e-bikes, e-motos and e-scooters in Vermont as well as around the country. Last week, 16-year-old Shiloh Skalka, a Burlington High School student, was fatally injured while riding an e-bike in Burlington; she was hit by a minivan as they both headed south on Pine Street. Police are investigating the accident. The young woman was wearing a helmet, and there is no evidence thus far that the electric bike was a factor in the collision. (See story on page 14.) The accident was one of at least six involving an e-bike that the city’s police have responded to this spring and summer, according to police Sgt. Dwayne Mellis.

Last month, a 13-year-old riding what was apparently mischaracterized as an e-bike in a police report was airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center after colliding with a car on a rural road in Swanton. A photo from the crash scene indicates the teen was actually riding an e-moto, according to Jack Mandeville Evans, a program specialist at bike advocacy organization Local Motion. The boy suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Dr. Rebecca Bell, a pediatric ICU doctor at the University of Vermont’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, said e-bikes have “sort of exploded on the scene.” Last year, for the first time ever, several young riders were admitted to the UVM Medical Center for their injuries. Since then, the frequency of serious pediatric e-bike injuries — typically orthopedic trauma requiring surgery — has increased. This summer, Bell has seen more children who were injured on e-bikes than on conventional bikes.

Given these trends, Bell stressed the importance of educating parents and kids about the risks of e-bikes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no e-bike use for children under age 12. Those who do ride should be limited to the least powerful e-bike, known as class 1. A rider should wear a helmet rated for higher speeds than conventional cycling headgear and shouldn’t use a cellphone while in motion, Bell said. Parents should set clear rules, reminding kids that e-bikes are heavier and faster than human-powered bikes and have more potential for injury to both riders and pedestrians.

Before getting on an e-bike, “young people need to be very competent in riding a typical bike, [be] able to stay in control [and know] the rules of road,” Bell said. “Late elementary school is too young.”

Sgt. Gregory Short, who leads South Burlington’s community services unit, said that last year he would see the occasional young person riding an electric bike or e-moto. Since spring, he said, “we’re seeing more and more reckless operation.” Riders, typically in the 10-to-14 age range, are operating at unsafe speeds, racing, and even doing wheelies and doughnuts on busy roads, he said.

By definition, e-bikes have a motor with less than 750 watts of power. But some young people have learned how to convert them into e-moto-like vehicles by swapping in a higher-wattage motor and replacing pedals with fixed pegs, Short said.

So far, the South Burlington Police Department has focused on education. Officers stop young people they see riding unsafely, explain why it’s dangerous and send them on their way with a warning. Under certain circumstances, such as for repeat offenders, officers have issued tickets and contacted the rider’s parents, Short said.

Near the end of the school year, the South Burlington School District sent a flyer to families that explained the differences between classes of e-bikes and e-motos. Short followed up with a visit to South Burlington’s middle school to chat informally with students in the cafeteria, giving them a chance to ask questions and stressing “the importance of riding with a helmet and not doing wheelies at 4:30 on Dorset Street.” He is planning to resume his outreach when the new school year begins.

“This issue is not going away,” he said. “It’s about continuous education, making sure kids and families know we’re paying attention.”

South Burlington’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee, meanwhile, is discussing several new e-bike measures, according to Erica Quallen Towle, deputy director of capital projects for the city’s Department of Public Works. To spread awareness, the city launched a community outreach campaign. Officials are posting about e-bikes and e-motos on social media, and the city recently put up signs along its recreation paths, including one that advises a 15-mph speed limit and another that prohibits electric vehicles over 750 watts.

School resource officer Jaime Bressler, a corporal in Colchester’s police department, is also trying to educate families. Bressler began calling parents of e-moto riders to let them know that the devices are illegal for kids under 16. Some told her they had not known that. Others indicated that they’d rather have their kids riding an e-moto than staying inside using their electronic devices. The school district recently banned e-motos from school property after officials noticed that kids were riding them onto campus this summer. The selectboard has begun discussing updating its ordinance related to e-bikes on sidewalks and rec paths.

Burlington’s Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department recently posted signs that say “No e-motos, motorcycles or unauthorized vehicles” on the city’s bike path. The idea came about after a statewide webinar in June hosted by Local Motion to talk about the challenges that e-motos pose. Mandeville Evans, the Local Motion staffer, acknowledged that e-bikes also come with risks but said his organization focuses on e-motos because of their greater power and speed.

“E-motos are advertised as a lifestyle purchase for adrenaline-seeking people … they are designed to prioritize adrenaline over safety,” Mandeville Evans wrote in an email, “and both of those factors contribute to their users using them in ways that push the limits and are unsafe.”

Next year, Local Motion plans to lobby for state legislation that would impose penalties for tampering with an e-bike to make it go faster and would require retailers to differentiate e-bikes from e-motos in advertising. Currently, some e-motos are falsely advertised as e-bikes, which makes it difficult for parents and kids to know what they’re purchasing, Mandeville Evans said.

Such legislative changes would be minor compared to a New Jersey law passed this year. It mandates that e-bikes be registered with the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission and requires riders to be at least 15 and have either a special e-bike license or a valid driver’s license. Local Motion opposes such stringent measures, which Mandeville Evans said create unnecessary barriers.

Local enforcement efforts are clearly not reaching everyone. Last Wednesday, two 14-year-old boys fished off Perkins Pier in Burlington, their e-motos parked nearby. The rising ninth graders from the New North End asked not to be named but said their parents had purchased the vehicles for them online in the spring. One of the teenagers said his e-moto had a 6,000-watt engine; the other said his was 6,500 watts — more than six times the wattage of an e-bike. The boys said they always wear helmets and slow down when they see families. Still, they said, sometimes people on the bike path yell at them. One boy characterized the naysayers as “haters.”

In the several months since they got their e-motos, the teens said, they’d each logged upwards of 1,000 miles. They’d seen the “no e-motos” signs on the bike path but continued to ride there and weren’t worried about being pulled over.

E-motos make it easy to get around and they’re fun to ride, the boys said. They have no plans to stop. ➆

The original print version of this article was headlined “Power Surge | A spike in the use of e-bikes and faster e-motos by children is causing communities to worry — and strategize”