The move comes on the heels of community members raising the alarm about the use of e-bikes on trails, in neighborhoods and at the Oceanfront.
Concerns range from children not being ready for the responsibility, speed, and power of the bikes, to a lack of helmets use, to the increasing number and severity of accidents, said Brent McKenzie, the city’s legislative affair director. Another major issue is the safety of bystanders when e-bikes are operated too fast, he said.
McKenzie told the council members they have multiple options for reining in e-bikes both at the local and state level, including prohibiting certain classes of e-bikes on sidewalks, shared-use paths and trails, which would require placing signage in prohibited areas.
E-bikes are classified into three categories: Class 1: pedal-assist, up to 20 mph; Class 2: throttle-assist, up to 20 mph; Class 3: pedal-assist, up to 28 mph. McKenzie recommended adding the classes to the city code.
Under current city law, e-bikes are allowed on sidewalks and designated bicycle paths, but they are prohibited on the Boardwalk, the Boardwalk bike path and sidewalks in the resort area.
Additionally, e-bikes are not allowed on Atlantic Avenue from May 1 through Sept. 30; however, City Attorney Mark Stiles said it’s inconsistent with state law, which requires bicycles and e-bikes be treated the same on streets. He plans to remove that local restriction from the city code.
Virginia Beach experienced a spate of accidents involving e-bikes this summer, including several near the Oceanfront, according to data provided by the Virginia Beach Police Department. At Tuesday’s meeting, Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson requested the city gather data on injuries from e-bike crashes, specifically in Virginia Beach.
She said signage on the Boardwalk will be important, but police action will also be needed.
“A lot of my constituents that live down there are terrified of these things,” she said. “Nothing is really going to change unless we do have enforcement.”
Councilman Michael Berlucchi said he has concerns about further straining police resources in the resort area by adding another enforcement measure to their duties, but City Manager Patrick Duhaney seemed confident that police interaction would be a last resort.
Berlucchi asked if anyone has received a ticket for riding an e-bike on Atlantic Avenue.
Capt. Bradley Wesseler of the Second Precinct at the Oceanfront said he would pull that information and provide it at a later date.
“The main approach that we use is the educational,” said Wesseler. “If you live in certain parts of the city, what is permitted there is not permitted at the Oceanfront. It’s even more noticeable when you have tourists coming in. What’s permitted in their home state is now not allowed.”
But he said it’s difficult for officers to stop cyclists that whiz past on e-bikes.
“The ones that we do want to try to stop … You feel that gust of wind. They’re going past you,” he said. “We’re on foot or on a pedal bicycle and keeping up is very difficult for us.”
“We can probably push a lot of messaging, put a lot of information out, once we kind of adopt the standard that Virginia Beach wants in terms of how we enforce this before we actually put the police department in a place where they have to pull somebody off their bicycle,” Duhaney said.
Several council members said they needed more time to weigh the options based on constituent feedback and want to make an informed decision through the guidance of a task force.
“I’ve heard from people with disabilities who are able to go further distances and longer times outside and on their bikes because of this technology,” Berlucchi said. “I think we really need to take our time and get it right.”
Councilman Worth Remick said while he supports prohibiting e-bikes and regular bicycles on the Boardwalk, he’s in favor of changing the local law to allow Class 1 e-bikes on the Boardwalk bike path.
“A lot of folks are just pedaling their bikes at the same time,” Remick said. “I hate to prohibit what probably ought to be most people who can use an e-bike safely.”
Duhaney recommended the task force have a clear goal of “finding pragmatic, realistic enforcement measures so that the council can amend the code accordingly.” He also suggested they meet for 60 or 90 days and be compromised of representatives from a variety of backgrounds.
“Different groups have different motivations behind e-bikes,” said Duhaney. “Some of them want to promote greater use of e-bikes, some of them want to control them and restrict them, some of them are the business proprietors who are in the business of selling e-bikes or renting e-bikes in the Oceanfront resort area and Sandbridge who don’t want any particular changes because they’ve set up their business plan based on the current rules and regulations.”
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