City leaders, police detail enforcement steps and possible ordinance changes for e‑motorcycles

Rob Wotton, chair of the Public Safety Committee, opened public comment on concerns about electric motorcycles and scooters, and several residents described repeated unsafe riding in neighborhoods and parks. “They were operating on the sidewalk,” resident David Fleming said, recounting calls he made to police after seeing riders perform wheelies near common areas. Fleming added that officers “responded very amazingly quickly.”

Police Chief Mike Bailey told the committee that many devices residents call “e‑motorcycles” are legally motor vehicles under state law and are not the same as pedal‑assist e‑bikes. “If it doesn't have pedals, it's a motorcycle,” Chief Bailey said. He explained that, under the Revised Code of Washington, operators of those devices generally must be at…