West Springfield Town Council President Michael LaFlamme provided an update on the town’s strategy to ensure e-bike safety for residents.
Photo credit: Town of West Springfield
WEST SPRINGFIELD — West Springfield Town Council President Michael LaFlamme addressed resident concerns about the recent uptick in electric bicycle usage in town, providing an update on a drafted town ordinance and his stance on the transportation method at the Town Council’s Sept. 14 meeting.
E-bikes are battery charged, equipped with an electric motor and can be used on roadways and bike paths. They are not allowed on sidewalks and riders must obey all traffic laws.
The bikes recently gained viral attention online after 14-year-old Owen Harris died on Sept. 12 after biking through a red light and colliding with a Tesla in San Diego, California.
Every bike is designed with a pedal assist function, which kicks in the motor to give the bike a boost when rotating the pedals. E-bikes with throttles allow pedal-less biking.
State law recognizes e-bikes in two main classes. Class 1 includes pedal assist that stops above 20 mph and class 2 includes throttle assist that cuts out at 20 mph. Unlike other states, Massachusetts law recognizes class 3 e-bikes as motorized bicycles. Class 3 e-bikes can exceed 20 mph and have pedal assist up to 28 mph.
Motorized bicycles carry specific licensing, registration and helmet requirements, while class 1 and 2 e-bikes do not require licensing, registration or a legal minimum age to operate in Massachusetts.
LaFlamme said e-bike concerns started popping up to him and the Town Council around spring and continued throughout the summer. He said he’s heard about it “becoming a problem” frequently from Ashley Street residents.
“I just want to give an update because it may look like we’re not doing anything because we haven’t passed anything with regulations,” LaFlamme said. “Right now, it’s being discussed and negotiated at the state level between the House and the Senate, and some legislation that would create different tiers and what not for e-bikes and their speeds and how they have to be registered. It’s very difficult for the town to do something when it’s in a gray area at the state level.”
He said it’s surprising how quickly and often people started using e-bikes, and people think it’s mostly kids riding them but he’s seen just as many adults.
“Many use it for their main form of transportation,” LaFlamme said. “The state is working on something. [Gov. Maura Healey] filed a piece of legislation that got sent to a study … I’m hoping we can get some sort of a resolution on that and some guidance for us down here at the local level. It’s tough for the town to do something. As everyone knows, state law supersedes local law.”
He said people have asked if the town can make registration or a license plate required, which it cannot. The state registrar has the authority.
“The state is going to have to set guidance on that,” LaFlamme said. “I hope they do. Some of these e-bikes are designed to go fast and be more of a transportation vehicle, and those should have a license plate. You should have to register them like you do a car or a motorcycle, and that’s just my opinion. But we, as a town, can’t force people who ride those to do that.”
Councilor Frederick Connor has been working on an ordinance with the town attorney, which LaFlamme said has a “pretty good draft, but we decided we should wait and see what the state does before we move forward.”
“We could just pass something, but it would most likely be toothless and unenforceable, so we might as well wait and do it right,” LaFlamme said. “It’s definitely something that is a problem. We’ve talked to the police about it. Police have confiscated bikes. They are getting into the schools to try to teach kids and educate them on the importance of riding them safely so nobody gets hurt. It’s a difficult situation for police. They don’t want to chase a kid, and then the kid zooms off and crashes into a tree and gets seriously injured, and now it looks like it’s the police’s fault, right … It’s a delicate situation but we are weighing options.”
Councilor Diana Coyne said e-bikes are a time bomb, and it’s not a question of it, but a question of when “somebody gets killed with either an interaction with an e-bike, a kid going off-road or an adult going off-road.”
She added bikers are going off-road onto town property and schools, which is costing the town taxpayer dollars.
“If something’s going off and perhaps onto the high school fields, we’re paying for that,” Coyne said. “So it’s maybe a plea to everyone to perhaps talk to your family members that have these things, perhaps take a little care. I’ve certainly seen people riding them without even helmets. It’s really just a very difficult situation.”
LaFlamme said everyone understands it is a serious issue, and the Town Council should have more updates soon.
