Resident urges action after near-misses with high-speed e-bikes on Oakland sidewalks

Resident Dave Richardson of 320 Ramapo Valley Road told the Oakland mayor and council that he has nearly been struck multiple times by electric bikes being ridden on sidewalks at high speed. "These kids are doing 30 miles an hour with them. I almost got hit the other night," Richardson said during public comment, describing incidents when riders had no lights and passed by without slowing.

Richardson asked the council what it would take to enact an ordinance to keep motorized bikes off sidewalks, likening them to mopeds given the speeds he observed. The mayor replied that the issue is "systemic" across New Jersey and said Bergen County mayors and several police chiefs discussed the problem earlier that day; the mayor said the conversations are focused on what legislative or enforcement approaches municipalities can take.

The council did not take formal action at the meeting to ban e-bikes from sidewalks or set a timeline for local regulation. The mayor noted that several towns are confronting the same safety concerns and that legal and enforcement questions are being explored.

Why it matters: Residents' accounts of near-miss collisions highlight pedestrian safety concerns along commercial sidewalks and near storefronts. Because municipal authority, enforcement capacity and state laws intersect on motorized devices, borough leaders indicated they are coordinating with neighboring municipalities and law enforcement on potential solutions.

What’s next: No ordinance or enforcement change was introduced at the meeting; the mayor indicated further discussion among mayors and police chiefs is underway and that legislation or local ordinances could follow after those conversations.