Officials grapple with growing e-bike use

Even as public officials wrestle with what, if anything, they can do in terms of enforcement, it ultimately comes down to parents being aware of the risks and understanding the responsibility that comes with giving children access to an e-bike.

Earlier this summer, Supervisor Ed Lachterman and Parks Superintendent Jim Martorano Jr. turned to Facebook to urge parents to talk with their children about responsible e-bike use. Similar complaints have come from Granite Knolls Park, sidewalks along Route 202 and neighborhood streets.

“It’s horrible. My plea here is not the kids on the e-bikes, but the parents,” Lachterman said in the video, now viewed 23,000 times. “You know your kids have e-bikes, you need to talk to them.

Lachterman said recent incidents have highlighted the risks, including a rider on a sidewalk involved in a collision and another situation where a rider jumping on and off a bike entered an active driveway and narrowly avoided a more serious outcome. He also raised concerns about riders performing wheelies and traveling through neighborhoods in ways that could put themselves and others at risk.

Councilwoman Susan Siegel recently received a complaint from a resident who described herself as a “walker,” expressing concern about the possibility of a serious accident involving e-bikes at the track and along the Commerce Street sidewalk.

While the town is exploring ways to make certain areas safer, including placing boulders in some locations, officials acknowledge those steps alone will not solve the issue.

“This is becoming a problem,” Lachterman has said.

ATVs are prohibited on public property in Yorktown, while e-bike regulations remain unresolved.

“We are certainly not interested in banning them,” Siegel told Yorktown News. “The issue is how to regulate them so that the rider is safe, drivers are safe and pedestrians are safe.”

Siegel said she supports the police department’s newly formed Bicycle Unit but believes additional education and regulation are needed. She suggested the unit present at a future public meeting to educate residents about existing rules, including that riders must be at least 16 years old, e-bikes cannot be ridden on sidewalks and cyclists should travel with traffic.

E-bikes became the focus of recent Town Board meetings including July 22 when Councilman Sergio Esposito raised New Jersey’s recent e-bike laws as a possible model. Some of the state’s requirements include registration and license plates for certain e-bikes.

While Esposito did not suggest mimicking New Jersey’s exact decisions, he believes laws from different communities can be merged together to find something that works for Yorktown.

“As a parent, law enforcement officer and town official, I would remind parents that e-bikes are not simply toys. They are motorized vehicles capable of reaching speeds that can cause serious injury. Before purchasing one, please honestly consider your child’s age, maturity, judgment and experience riding safely around traffic,” he later told Yorktown News .

Lachterman suggested creating an e-bike safety course for children and parents, potentially including registration and a certificate of completion.

“I also don’t want us to be too intrusive as a government,” Lachterman said. 

However, he highlighted the importance of partnerships with police, schools and parks and recreation. 

Most complaints, Police Chief Justin Foley told Yorktown News, involve children riding e-bikes without a parent or guardian present. He said enforcement can be challenging because officers cannot issue traffic summonses to riders under 16.

“In order to issue a summons for this violation to a parent or guardian the juvenile must be operating the e-bike in their presence which is often not the case,” he said.

While state laws have not fully kept pace with the growth of e-bikes, Foley said New York State Vehicle and Traffic Laws prohibit e-bikes on sidewalks, restrict operation by riders under 16 and limit the use of Class 3 e-bikes outside New York City. E-bikes are also required to have a manufacturer’s label displaying the bike’s class, maximum motor-assisted speed and motor wattage.

According to Harvey Loeb, safety and education board member for the Westchester Cycle Club, Class 1 e-bikes are pedal-assist bicycles with a maximum speed of 20 mph. Class 2 e-bikes have the same speed limit but also include throttle capability, while Class 3 e-bikes can reach speeds of up to 28 mph.

Officers in Yorktown’s Traffic Safety Unit have been tasked with “coming up with additional enforcement options, increased fines for repeat offenders, stricter helmet regulations as well as seizure and impound,” according to Foley.

The unit is also examining potential town code changes to further regulate e-bike use.

Foley said education will remain a key part of the town’s response. The Bicycle Unit, along with the School Resource Officer program, will work with residents to promote safer riding habits.

But Loeb suggested children should learn to ride traditional bicycles before moving to e-bikes.

“I think it’s a big mistake for parents to give their kids an e-bike if that is their first bike or if they’re very young,” Loeb said. “Children should master the skills needed to ride a human-powered bicycle initially.” 

Jonathan Nettelfield, co-founder and current member of the Yorktown Trail Town Committee, said he supports cycling but believes local infrastructure has not kept pace with increased use.

”In the 35 years I have lived here, I’ve seen the motor vehicle traffic increase massively and the fact that cyclists take their lives at risk, especially during the rush hour when cars are speeding towards Croton station and drivers are extra impatient,” Nettelfield said. We no longer cycle on Rt. 129 from the house.”

Nettelfield also said education and long-term planning will be more effective than enforcement alone.

“Patrolling and giving tickets is a feel-good, short term solution,” Nettelfield said. “As transportation and recreation change over time here, we need to be thinking long term solutions involving the infrastructure and not just behavior modification.”

Miranda Ferrante and Emile Menasché contributed to the reporting of this story.