MASSENA — The Massena Police Department plans to start an outreach to individuals they find operating e-bikes and e-scooters within the village.
“Officers will make contact with individuals observed operating these devices in violation of New York State law and the Massena Village Code. During these interactions, officers will provide informational flyers outlining proper operation, safety guidelines, and applicable regulations,” they said in a Facebook post. “This initiative is focused on education and awareness. However, continued violations may result in enforcement action.”
Village Trustee Kenneth J. McGowan, in an email to Police Chief Cody Wilson, shared his concerns about the e-bikes and e-scooters.
“My primary concern isn’t with kids, as I enjoy seeing them outside and active. Instead, it’s the disregard for safety displayed by some adults operating e-bikes and scooters,” he said.
Although there’s no local village law in place, Lt. Dustin M. McDowell researched state guidance on bicycles with electric assists from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. That vehicle and traffic law addresses “electric scooters and bicycles and other unregistered vehicles.”
“You can operate an electric scooter or bicycle with an electric assist on some streets and highways in New York state,” he said. “You can operate these devices on highways with a posted speed limit of 30 MPH or less. Municipalities can further regulate the time, place, and manner of operation of these devices. You cannot operate these devices on a sidewalk except as authorized by local law or ordinance.”
McDowell said, under state law, electric scooters have a maximum speed of no more than 20 miles per hour on a paved level surface when powered solely by the electric motor. It is illegal to operate an electric scooter in excess of 15 miles per hour.
No driver’s license is required, but he said there’s an age restriction.
“Those under the age of 16 are not allowed to operate a bicycle with electric assist,” McDowell said.
Individuals riding an e-bike or e-scooter may be stopped for one of several reasons, including riding on the sidewalk, not wearing the required helmet, disobeying a traffic sign or signal, carrying a passenger or unsafe operation.
“As Juvenile Officer/ SRO Flynn (School Resource Officer Michael Flynn) advised last year, we cannot issue a citation to the person less than 16 that is operating a bicycle with electric assist. However, we can issue a citation to their parent/ guardian… if it occurs in their presence,” McDowell said.
That, he said, was one of the main items he took away in his review of the state law.
That section of the state law reads, “A police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of this section by a person less than sixteen years of age to the parent or guardian of such person if the violation by such person occurs in the presence of such person’s parent or guardian and where such parent or guardian is eighteen years of age or older. Such summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian, and shall not be issued to the person less than sixteen years of age.
“I believe that the proper enforcement action would be to educate the operator that’s less than 16 as well as the parent/guardian of this law and have it documented in an incident report. If it persists after that point and meets the criteria above in subdivision 13, enforce it,” McDowell said.