Norwalk committee weighs e‑bike and e‑scooter safety, regulation and battery‑charging risks

Norwalk — On Nov. 18 the Ordinance Committee heard public comment and a police briefing about e‑bikes and e‑scooters, focusing on vehicle classifications, public‑safety risks to minors, and hazards associated with charging and storing high‑power batteries.

Resident Tanner Thompson urged the committee to preserve the distinction between lower‑speed e‑bikes (useful for sustainable transportation) and faster, higher‑power electric motorcycles. “The term e‑bike is being used as an umbrella term for a lot of different devices that really vary quite broadly in terms of their capabilities,” Tanner told the committee. Paul Fox, whose comment was read into the record, cited state legislation (SHB 6862) and recommended treating low‑power class 1–3 e‑bikes like conventional bicycles while focusing enforcement on higher‑power vehicles.

Police described the state class system for e‑bikes in summary form: class 1 and class 2 bikes have a maximum speed of about 20 miles per hour; class 3 is a higher‑speed class with a maximum around 28 miles per hour and age restrictions for riders. The chief also described an unregulated e‑scooter rental presence and said the city needs to determine who operates those businesses, where scooters are stored and charged, and whether operators meet safety and equipment requirements.

Committee members raised helmet use among juveniles and the fire hazard posed by improper charging and storage in multiunit housing; one member recounted an apartment fire where multiple families were displaced after a charging battery ignited. Members recommended pairing potential ordinance language with public‑education campaigns and working with the next Common Council and police to negotiate operator safeguards and registration requirements that do not unduly restrict low‑power e‑bikes used for daily transportation.

No ordinance changes were made at the Nov. 18 meeting; the committee agreed to continue the issue into the next Council term and requested staff coordination between public safety and ordinance staff.