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By Guy Page
Brandon police say they will step up enforcement against young e-bike riders following complaints about dangerous riding on streets, sidewalks and around local businesses, according to a report in the Rutland Herald, the daily newspaper for Rutland County.
Statewide, public officials are grappling with public safety threats posed to juvenile e-bike and e-moto riders, both to themselves and those around them. In Burlington, a teenaged girl was killed last month by an elderly mini-van driver, who was later charged in connection with the death. Last week a Burlington bike path cyclist was assaulted by juvenile e-moto and e-bike riders. Police say they also slashed his bicycle tires with a knife. Colchester police and town officials have expressed similar concern.
Brandon is a town of 1,948, located north of Rutland City. Police Chief David Kachajian said officers have tried educating riders but some older juveniles continue to ignore the rules.
“We’ve been trying to be understanding,” Kachajian told the Rutland Herald. “But some of these kids, and we know who they are, they’re just not getting it.”
Select Board members and residents have reported riders doing wheelies for long distances, riding on sidewalks and treating areas near businesses “as if they were on racetracks.” Town officials said the riders and their parents are known to police.
Kachajian said he plans to adjust police shifts to increase coverage during the hours when the activity is most common.
Police said some of the electric vehicles involved are essentially motorized dirt bikes rather than ordinary pedal-assisted e-bikes. Those vehicles may require registration and insurance, and their operators may need a driver’s license. Vehicles operated illegally could be towed and impounded.
Kachajian said younger children generally have responded well to warnings, but police are preparing stronger enforcement against riders who continue to disregard the law.
For more details, read “Brandon to increase enforcement of e-bike rules,” August 17.
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Categories: Local government, Transportation
The two cases cited in Burlington have really nothing to do with the fact that the bicycles involved had electric motors. When the Burlington bike path opened, there were few or none electric bikes yet it was still nicknamed “felony lane” by some police and neighbors. The e-moto bikes with >750 Watts/ 1 HP are by law considered vehicles subject to the same rules as gasoline-powered motorcycles, requiring a driver’s license with a motorcycle endorsement and use of a helmet when used on public highways. It will take a while before the rules and enforcement catch up with the market. Until then, drivers and pedestrians need to have eyes in the back of their heads.
Will the new bridge over the interstate for walkers and bikers be declared a public road with no motor driven scooters can use????? Comment from Richard Dy.