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Traffic safety advisory board advances draft e‑bike and e‑scooter rules for town board review
Summary
The town’s traffic safety advisory board presented a draft ordinance to regulate e‑bikes and e‑scooters on town property, restricting motorized vehicles on bike paths, setting speed and age limits, helmet/light requirements and enforcement mechanisms; the draft goes back to the town board for possible vote next month.
Kurt Herman, chair of the Traffic Safety Advisory Board, updated advisory members on a near‑final draft ordinance aimed at regulating e‑bikes and e‑scooters on town property.
The draft would treat motorized bicycles and scooters as distinct from manual bicycles and would prohibit their use on town bike paths and park property. It includes speed and power limits, age restrictions, helmet and lighting requirements, and civil fines. Enforcement language provides for police seizure of vehicles used in violation; the board said confiscation and requiring parents to retrieve equipment were options discussed.
Herman said the board modeled the ordinance on rules adopted by nearby towns and that the draft returned to the town board for comment and revision. He told members the town board may vote on the ordinance as soon as next month, and he urged outreach to clarify where exemptions might apply (schools, limited trail segments) and to identify enforcement logistics in trouble spots such as the Whitehaven/Fantasy Island intersection.
Advisory members flagged practical concerns (damage to turf fields, high‑speed machines on sidewalks) and recommended clear definitions and map annotations showing where motorized devices are allowed or banned. Police representatives present were described as supportive of having enforceable language and tools to remove dangerous devices from public places.
