Clarence is establishing e-bike regulations that leaders say will improve safety and deter mostly children from acting dangerously while riding.
Updates to a local law now allow law enforcement in Clarence to impound any e-bike being operated unsafely on town trails or sidewalks.
However, resident Kathy Campagna has concerns with the lack of concise language for what is classified as an e-bike.
“I have a Class 1 e-bike, you know. So it's pedal assist," she said. "I go and I check, I have a little thing that tells me I go an average of 9 mph after my, you know, 20-mile ride to Akron. I just want to be sure that I'm not going to be stuck.”
Campagna also believes many of the ones riding e-bikes aren’t bad children, they just need a dedicated space to ride.
The updated law is a deterrent, but not something that will be over-enforced, Clarence Town Supervisor Patrick Casilio said.
“We're not going to run up and down the bike paths trying to catch people," he said. "We don't, we don't want our young people heading out into traffic, running away from law enforcement and end up getting hurt.”
Clarence doesn’t have its own police department, so enforcement would fall to members of Erie County Sheriff’s office and New York State Police operating in the area.
Erie County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Christopher Horvatits says their office has been cooperating with several communities that want stricter rules for e-bikes.
“We are, at this point, just trying to make people aware of what the rules are in the very serious consequences," he said. "Not necessarily legal consequences, but certainly consequences of injury that could exist if you do operate these devices in an unsafe manner.”
The stronger regulations are a start, but the ideal scenario would be barring all electric or gas-powered dirt bikes from use on town trails, Casilio said.
"We don't want electric dirt bikes on our bike trail. We don't want gas powered dirt bikes on our trail. We do welcome e-bikes because it has pedals," he said. "If you have pedals — and that's our basic rule — well, if you have pedals, everything's fine. But if you're running an electric dirt bike, 50 mph down our bike paths, we don't want you on our bike paths."
Under the local law, police now may issue penalties up to $250 and/or 15 days in jail for operating an e-bike unsafely.
