By Stephen Appezzato
FAIR HAVEN – As electric bicycles – or e-bikes – grow in popularity, so do concerns over rider safety.
At the borough council’s July 8 meeting, officials discussed drafting an e-bike ordinance to enforce speed limits, rules and safety guidelines for these motor-assisted vehicles.
“I think it’s an emergency-type situation,” said Mayor Josh Halpern, who noted he’s seen children speed down the middle of Ridge Road performing wheelies and dangerous acts on multiple occasions.
E-bikes pose a unique concern for police and officials in many towns as they are only subject to normal bicycle guidelines but enable riders to reach speeds around 30 miles per hour with relative ease.
“We certainly don’t want to ban e-bikes. We realize in this small town, we know that a lot of families like to use them,” Halpern said. “We do think that there is a purpose to them. However, they need to be used safely.”
While the council did not introduce an ordinance, discussions during the workshop portion of the meeting indicated repeat e-bike offenders could be summoned to municipal court if an ordinance is passed. A draft also contained clauses banning e-bike riders from borough property, like the trails in Fair Haven Fields Natural Area; banning riders holding on to moving cars – which is sometimes referred to as hitching or skitching; and prohibiting riders from going at speeds “faster than is usual and proper,” which council member Michal DiMiceli noted was vague.
“When I look at this ordinance, it comes down to extreme safety,” said council member Drew LaBarbera, noting the current penalties in the draft didn’t seem strong enough to deter careless riding.
“When you’re talking about a kid, or even an adult for that matter, getting into an accident, hitting their head and the consequences that can happen, I think there needs to be a further penalty,” he said.
E-bikes are a growing concern among small towns and more and more boroughs are putting e-bike-specific laws on the books.
“Almost every town has had the same situation,” Fair Haven Police Chief Joe McGovern said, explaining the borough’s incoming ordinance was modeled after other towns’.
In May, ahead of the busy summer season, Sea Bright passed a similar e-bike ordinance which set a hard speed limit of 20 miles per hour for e-bikes, specified areas where riding was prohibited and set other rules. Those who violate Sea Bright’s law must pay a $125 fine, but there is no mention of court appearances for repeat of fenders.
Surprisingly, e-bikes date back to the 1890s when initial patents for bicycles with electric motors were filed, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that modern e-bikes, containing torque sensors, power controls and other upgrades, appeared. Since 2020 their popularity has boomed, with more and more affordable options being offered to consumers.
A priority of the borough council, Halpern said he would like to advance the ordinance “sooner rather than later.”
“There’s no reason to wait on this, and we can always change it” to make it more or less restrictive, he said.
A finalized law will likely be introduced at Fair Haven’s July 22 borough council meeting, with a public hearing and vote coming in August.
The article originally appeared in the July 11 – July 17, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
