Buffalo Grove helping residents navigate upcoming state e-bike law change

The new year will bring a new set of state rules for e-bikes, and Buffalo Grove village leaders are helping residents get up to speed on the changes.

Village President Eric Smith and Deputy Police Chief Tara Anderson on Tuesday held a President’s Pick session at police headquarters to go over the new rules and answer questions.

Last year, the village passed an e-bike ordinance and issued postcards summing up the changes.

“Honestly, I recommend you toss them, because with this law change, almost in every category, the new law conflicts with our current ordinance,” Anderson said.

The legislation prohibits anyone under 16 from riding electric scooters and bans the scooters on sidewalks, she said.

In addition, e-bikes are limited to roads with a 35 mph speed limit unless there is a bike lane.

“The state did step up here, because with those high-speed scooters in the past, there was no regulation,” Anderson said.

However, while state rules offer uniformity, lawmakers did give park districts, forest preserves and conservation districts the ability to set different rules, Buffalo Grove Park District Superintendent of Communications and Marketing Mike Terson said.

Resident Larry Meyer noted the rules prevent him from using the sidewalk to ride his Class 2 bike, which has a throttle and a pedal. Meyer, who said he rarely goes more than 12 miles an hour, urged the village to install bike lanes.

“There’s a number of streets that are wide enough to have a bike lane, but right now there should be a bike lane, and there’s not,” he said.

Anderson said the village has worked on expanding its multiuse paths. Construction near Bernard Drive created multiuse trails that can be used by e-bikes along the road.

She said the village is going to be working with school districts to get information out. Some schools, she added, already have banned the devices on their property.

With the state law change, the village ordinance will be repealed, and there won’t be an option of issuing a citation, she said.

The village manager is working with counterparts in other towns to lobby for a carve-out that would allow the village to handle violations through its own administrative hearings.

Smith emphasized the village formulated its own ordinance because there was no uniform state law at the time, and then pushed state lawmakers to pass legislation.

“It’s the first step,” he said. “I’m sure there’s going to be changes over the coming years.”

szalusky@dailyherald.com