Steamboat Springs Parks & Recreation commissioners met with city E-Bike Safety Committee members for an update and to discuss next steps and recommendations to City Council, at a Parks & Recreation Commission meeting Wednesday.
Following a recent incident involving a police chase with three youths on e-dirtbikes, Police Chief Mark Beckett emphasized the need to clarify to the community the difference between e-bikes and e-motorcycles. E-motorcycles and e-dirtbikes fall under the same set of legal requirements, while e-bike regulations are slightly different.
E-motorcycles are required by law to be registered and insured. The vehicles must have mirrors and the driver must be 16 or over with a motorcycle endorsement.
E-bikes, on the other hand, can be operated by users under 16 and do not have to be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Chief Beckett called the e-motorcycle situation “a bane in this community” at the meeting.
He referred to the rapid advancement of the technology blurring legislative lines and making safety rules harder to enforce. Because many e-motorcycles are marketed by big corporations such as Walmart or Amazon as e-bikes, parents and youth may be unaware of legal differences.
E-motorcycles can also feature added pedals, which makes the difference between an e-bike and an e-motorcycle even harder to distinguish.
“I think we’ve got some opportunity to do some education on that differentiation as well,” said Drew Pickle, the city’s deputy director of recreation.
Beckett also noted that a trend in youth not stopping for police has added to the problem. “We’ve had to give directions now to slow down for my officers because we’ve chased some kids and it has created dangerous situations,” said Beckett.
The police chief stated that some unorthodox methods, such as using drones, have been successful in chase situations, but that the most effective solution would involve updating local ordinances.
For example, e-motorcycles without a registration are currently illegal to drive on the road. This means that police cannot confiscate an e-motorcycle unless they find the user actively riding it. Beckett suggested that a total ban on e-motorcycles would allow police to remove any illegal e-motorcycle as they find them.
In terms of e-bikes — not e-motorcycles — Beckett said the police department is “generally doing better.” The last update given by the E-Bike Safety Committee was in May. Since then, the committee has conducted several community outreach initiatives to both gather information and educate residents.
According to Pickle’s presentation, this included gathering survey responses at outreach events, which occurred at the Steamboat Free Summer Concerts at Howelsen Hill and periodically along the core trail. The survey included seven questions with an open box at the end for written comments. Questions included asking residents if they rode e-bikes and whether they wore helmets.
Pickle and several commissioners noted that since May, they have seen increased helmet usage among youth. However, Pickle also noted a discrepancy between kids having the proper gear and helmets — but parents not following the same protocol.
Commissioners identified the survey question “How familiar are you with e-bike rules?” as the most important question on the survey, as they hope to improve community knowledge of local regulations with education and outreach. In the future, they’ll ask the same question to measurably test the effectiveness of their outreach programs.
Pickle noted that several Steamboat ordinances differ from state laws — notably, that all e-bikers under 16 must wear a helmet in the city.
The commission’s goals moving forward are to enhance education outreach, fill statutory gaps and make clear recommendations to council, focusing on tangible data measurements and getting other youth groups involved.
In terms of youth education, the commission recommended a minimum of one school education event a year. Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kelly Phillips suggested partnering with youth programs such as soccer clubs and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club to make the education fun and have the information come from people who local youth already look to as leaders.
In terms of data measurements, the commissioners identified collecting information on citations and warnings as well as hospitalizations and injuries. They also recommended that City Council continue survey and outreach efforts.