Riverhead scales back proposed e-bike restrictions, shifts focus to enforcement

A revised Riverhead Town code proposal would scale back several of the broad restrictions on electric bikes the Town Board considered last year, while giving local police stronger tools to enforce rules against underage, reckless and intoxicated riders.

At the board’s April 16 work session, Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley presented a reworked amendment to the town code section governing electric scooters and bicycles with electric assist. The revised draft appears to respond directly to concerns that led the board in October to table two related code changes and seek input from the senior citizens advisory committee and the alternative transportation advisory committee.

The earlier proposal would have imposed a 15 mph speed limit on both electric scooters and e-bikes, banned e-bikes from operating at night, barred them from Main Street between Court Street and Route 58, and prohibited Class 2 e-bikes from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Recreation Trail at EPCAL.

The current draft backs away from much of that.

It would still limit electric scooters to 15 mph, but would allow electric-assist bicycles to travel up to 20 mph, consistent with state law. It would drop the blanket nighttime ban for e-bikes and remove the proposed Main Street prohibition for e-bikes. It also would no longer bar electric bicycles from the EPCAL trail, though electric scooters would still be prohibited there.

That shift was a major theme of the work session discussion.Riverhead has reworked its proposed e-bike code, dropping several broad restrictions considered last fall while adding stronger local enforcement and impound powers.

Council Member Ken Rothwell said the board pulled back the earlier proposal in part because seniors who use electric-assist bikes, particularly on the trail, were concerned about being swept up in an overly broad crackdown.

“A lot of seniors are using e-bikes for recreation,” Rothwell said when the board tabled the earlier measures in October.

At the April 16 work session, Rothwell said older residents had spoken strongly about wanting to make sure they would not be banned or pushed off the roadways or trail. Council Member Bob Kern, who now serves as liaison to the trail committee, also said electric-assist bikes are important for seniors and people with disabilities.

Hurley said the revised proposal would not change the trail rules for electric bicycles.

Even as the rewrite eases up on some of the earlier use restrictions, it takes a tougher approach to enforcement.

Police Chief Ed Frost said the department is seeing more children riding electric bikes and similar devices, often without helmets and without understanding the rules of the road. He said officers have already responded to two crashes on Route 58 involving electric scooters, including one in which a rider was seriously injured.

He said many of the restrictions already exist in state law, but putting them into the town code would make them easier for Riverhead police to enforce locally through town summonses and justice court.

The revised draft adds more detailed provisions dealing with intoxicated operation, reckless riding and fleeing police. It would allow officers to seize and impound devices in certain circumstances and includes parental liability provisions for younger riders.

It also would bar anyone age 15 or younger from operating an electric scooter or electric-assist bicycle on public property or roadways.

Hurley said the proposal distinguishes between two classes of electric-assist bicycles.

Class 1 bicycles are pedal-assist only, meaning the motor helps only while the rider is pedaling and stops assisting at 20 mph. Class 2 bicycles also have pedals, but include a throttle that allows them to be propelled without pedaling, also up to 20 mph.

Electric dirt bikes without pedals would remain banned.

The rewrite also narrows another provision from the earlier draft. Last year’s proposal would have barred both scooters and e-bikes from designated bicycle lanes, except for Class 1 e-bikes. The current version would prohibit only scooters from bike lanes.

The revised code would require helmets for operators of electric scooters and electric-assist bicycles while the devices are in motion. Violations would be punishable by up to 15 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $500, with tougher consequences in some cases involving seizure and impound.

Supervisor Jerry Halpin and other board members said any code change should be paired with public education, including information on the town website, Channel 22, recreation brochures and signage. Halpin said riders should be clearly told they are supposed to travel with traffic, not against it.