The Minnesota State Legislature is considering several bills related to e-bikes and safety, as more and more people have them in the state.
SF4186 would modify “definitions and registration requirements for motorized bicycles and motorcycles powered by electric motors.”
SF3236 and SF3280 are both related to safety, focusing on helmet requirements for those under 18 riding e-bikes, and allowing speed limit ordinances for e-bikes in certain places.
“We’re dealing with a new frontier here, and I think this is going to take some deliberation and work to figure out what those structurals are,” Mike Hanson, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said during a committee hearing in the Senate Wednesday.
With an increase in use, there’s also an increase in risk. Several medical professionals and families spoke at Gillette Children’s in St. Paul Tuesday about wearing helmets.
“If raising awareness can spare even one family from the trauma we see in the emergency department, the conversation is worth having,” Colleen Wood, Pediatric Trauma Program Manager at Regions, said.
It’s a trauma one Wisconsin family knows all too well. Chris and Danielle Michels spoke as well Tuesday, sharing their daughter, Stella’s, story.
“On August 11, 2024 we were camping, and after breakfast at the camper, Stella went for a scooter ride,” Danielle said. “She wasn’t going to go that morning because she didn’t have her helmet, but we thought it would be fine. She had done it so many times before, and we told her, just be careful, be slow.”
“Unfortunately, she never made it back from that ride.”
Danielle says it looked as if Stella had just fallen off her scooter when they found her, adding that she wasn’t responsive, but she looked fine. Stella was airlifted to Regions, and eventually transferred to Gillette Children’s.
After five months, Stella developed an infection in her brain, and one month later, passed away from her injuries.
“We never imagined something like this would happen to our family, but all it took was one ride without a helmet,” Danielle said.
“Make your kids wear the helmet. Make it normal and make it cool, because losing a child is something no parent should ever have to endure.”
Wearing a helmet is something the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota says it always recommends – though they say they take issue with these specific bills related to helmet usage.
“We always advocate for people to be wearing helmets when they’re on a bicycle, basically improves their safety outcomes across the board,” Erik Noonan, Communications Director for Bike MN said. “However, mandating that behavior has a lot of negative impacts that we basically see as making it less likely that people will choose to ride a bike.”
Noonan says their reasoning also includes those who may not be able to afford a helmet but have a bike, or those who have religious head wear that requires a specialized helmet.
Also discussed are definitions of e-bikes and e-motos. Noonan says e-motos generally have speeds higher than e-bikes can go, and have more wattage than e-bikes. He adds that e-motos need to have insurance if they’re going to be in a public place.
“A piece of this as well is that it provides a vehicle for us to be better educating the public,” Noonan said. “Then that includes law enforcement. These are relatively new devices, so I think that we’re all doing the best we can, but sometimes there’s some mistakes.”
