The new law comes during a summer that has seen a large number of e-bike crashes that have caused death and serious injury around Western New York, including a Clarence teenager who was killed while using an electric dirt bike last week.
The town law empowers police to impound the vehicles if officers find they are being used illegally, officials said. It also imposes fines for reckless use of the vehicles.
“This law is geared towards people that are on our bike trails being reckless (on) a scooter, an electric bicycle, an electric dirt bike, gasoline powered dirt bike, ATV, UTV,” Clarence Supervisor Patrick Casilio said.
“We felt we have to get a law in place, with direction from law enforcement if somebody’s acting irresponsible, that we have the opportunity to impound,” he added.
Some kids and teens riding electric bicycles and scooters are not following the laws, causing headaches for communities and raising concerns about safety.
E-bikes have been growing in popularity. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy, sales of e-bikes have grown from 250,000 per year in 2018 to more than 1 million per year in 2022. Lawmakers say new safety measures such as the law in Clarence are needed in order to protect public safety as the number of these vehicles continues to grow.
In New York, a person must be 16 or older to ride an e-bike or scooter, and they can’t be operated on sidewalks.
Violating the new law in Clarence carries a $250 fine or imprisonment up to 15 days, or both.
If someone has one of these vehicles impounded, the new law states that the bike or similar vehicle won’t be returned unless someone provides proof of ownership, and all impound fees have been paid.
During the Clarence public hearing prior to the passage of the law, two people spoke in favor of it. A third speaker, Kathy Campagna, of Harris Hill, said she wanted clarity on the law so she can continue to use her e-bike responsibly.
“I just came here to be sure that I am in compliance with the law so that we have no problems with riding our e-bikes,” she said.
The law does not prohibit using the vehicles. It prohibits recklessness, Town Attorney Lawrence Meckler said.
Many riders will not have a problem, “as long as you ride carefully and you’re not destructive, and you’re not negligent,” he said.
At the hearing, Clarence resident Wendy Merkle recounted an incident with a group of young people to show why the legislation is important.
“I was driving to Railroad Street, and there were about five kids ... and they were in the middle of the street. And so I gave them a beep, beep, in my little pink (Volkswagen Beetle) car with eyelashes,” Merkle said. “The kids didn’t like that. I beeped at them to move over, and so they started going slower, moved into the middle of the road, and one of them popped a wheelie and landed the front tire of their bike on my car,” she said.
AN 'UNIMAGINABLE' LOSS AS CLARENCE TEEN DIES OF INJURIES SUFFERED IN E-DIRT BIKE CRASH
Clarence Varsity Hockey's longtime coach described Daniel Bechtel as a "team-first" player who never pointed a finger of blame at his teammates.“From my understanding, this law is really to help law enforcement be able to do something about the kids,” she added.
Spring and summer have seen a number of crashes locally involving riders of bicycles, e-bikes and motorcycles who were fatally injured after colliding with a car, SUV or median.
Daniel Bechtel, a Clarence teenager, died from injuries suffered in an electric dirt bike accident in a parking lot off of Transit Road in Clarence. Bechtel, 16, was not wearing a helmet when he crashed into a grassy median in the parking lot.
In Niagara Falls, an e-bike operator was killed in a collision Friday after going the wrong way through an intersection and turning in front of a tow truck, colliding with the much larger vehicle, police said.
E-BIKE OPERATOR KILLED IN COLLISION WITH TOW TRUCK IN NIAGARA FALLS
The collision happened at about 11:42 a.m. at the intersection of Ontario Avenue and Lockport Street, the City Administrator's Office said in a news release.
Other communities have also begun combating reckless use of e-bikes and their electrified cousins. East Aurora is considering giving village police the authority to write citations to parents whose children are caught riding irresponsibly. East Aurora Police Chief Patrick Welch said he wants to address this issue in the village before a tragedy happens. Youths have been riding e-bikes down the sidewalks on Main Street, which is not allowed.
In Clarence, Casilio closed Wednesday’s meeting in honor of Bechtel.
“I hope we save lives today,” Casilio concluded. “That’s our goal.”
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