SALT LAKE CITY — A lawmaker introduced a bill Wednesday he hoped would address increasing safety concerns surrounding the use of electric bikes and off-road motorcycles.
Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville, explained the aims of HB381 during a demonstration of e-bikes and e-motorcycles outside the Utah State Capitol Wednesday afternoon.
“It clarifies for parents devices that go over 20 miles an hour with a throttle on their own power versus bikes that go less than 20 miles an hour or scooters that go less than 20 miles an hour,” Cutler said during an interview with KSL. “For those that go less than 20 miles an hour, we’ve created a safety course that kids can take online or with the police officer, their DARE officer in school or potentially a nonprofit like Bike Utah where they can learn about bike safety, learn the rules of what’s allowed on a roadway, how you ride safely, what are the traffic rules and we think that will make kids a lot safer on the roads.”
Cutler said the training program would also allow kids to ride without the supervision of their parents.
“Currently, the law says you can only ride under the supervision of your parents,” Cutler said. “Nobody is following the law. Kids want to be independent. They want to be out there on their own. This is a way we can do it.”
According to Cutler, the legislation comes in response to a host of different complaints related to e-bike and e-motorcycle safety around the state.
“We had a lot of complaints and concerns from neighborhoods where they’re seeing a lot of kids riding recklessly on the streets, really high-powered devices,” Cutler said. “We had a tragic death in my area of a 12-year-old riding what I think they thought was a safe e-bike. In fact, it was more of an e-motorcycle. Really tragic. That motivated us to work together to find a way to update regulations to keep kids safer.”
Wade Allinson, OHV program manager with the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation, said he’s also heard the complaints and seen bad road behavior in residential areas.
“You can pretty much go into a lot of neighborhoods and see,” he said. “Just wait, you’ll see kids zipping up and down the roads on them.”
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross — the Senate sponsor — said there is real concern about the potential for accidents.
“If a small child or a mother pushing a stroller got hit by an e-bike going 30 miles-an-hour, that could cause some serious injuries,” Weiler said. “I think e-bikes are wonderful. I have one myself. I’ve had one for over a decade, but I do think parents need to be educated.”
Allinson showed some off-highway, electric motorcycles that are confused for e-bikes, but can travel over 40 miles per hour.
“These require compliance with the OHV laws, they require kids to have helmets, to have a safety class,” Allinson explained. “If they’re a youth, they require parental supervision. So, a lot of people think they’re electric scooters or electric bicycles. These are actually electric, off-highway motorcycles.”
Both Allinson and Cutler said they want kids to be able to ride the bikes, but they want them to do it safely and within the law.
“We want more kids riding bikes,” Cutler said. “We want more kids riding bikes safely.”
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