Police Vow To Step Up Enforcement Of E-Bike Regulations

The Nantucket Police Department will be increasing enforcement efforts against e-bike violations, Police Chief Jody Kasper told the Select Board last week.

“I think we all agree this has been an ongoing community concern for everyone who's been witnessing everything on our roadways right now,” Kasper said. “We all witness what's going on out there. I view it as incredibly dangerous.”

Kasper said that police officers stationed around the island will be stopping e-bike riders who are violating existing regulations by riding without a helmet or riding a bike with one seat and multiple riders.

“We will be out in strategic areas where it's safe to stop people,” Kasper said. “We want to be very careful when we're doing any sort of enforcement activities that we're not contributing to any sort of dangerous situation.”

She also emphasized that any vehicles that can go over 20 miles per hour, such as so-called “Class Three” e-bikes, are not considered bikes under Massachusetts law. As such, they require a driver’s license to operate, cannot be used by anyone under 16, and must only be driven on roads, not pedestrian walkways.

“We've been in the midst this week of just training our staff on some e-bike enforcement options,” she said. “There will be a little bit of a bumpy break-in period.”

This can be particularly confusing for riders, as many vehicles that Massachusetts does not consider e-bikes are marketed and sold as e-bikes by the manufacturers.

Kasper said that police officers will be focusing on education first, meaning that actual enforcement actions taken against e-bike rule violators could remain low.

E-bike safety has become a salient issue on Nantucket in recent years as injuries caused by the vehicles continue to stack up.

“We as a police department have responded to a lot of medical calls,” Kasper said.

During this year’s Annual Town Meeting, voters passed a general bylaw amendment to limit the speed of e-bikes and similar vehicles to 20 mph on town bike paths and sidewalks. The bylaw also requires that when e-bike riders come within 10 feet of a pedestrian or other cyclist, “the rider shall reduce speed and pass with caution and not in excess of 5 mph more than the pedestrian.”

Recently, the Nantucket Public Schools district overhauled its e-bike rules amidst soaring student usage, just one sign of many that the vehicles are becoming increasingly common on-island and, in the eyes of some, increasingly problematic.

In her remarks to the Select Board, Kasper spoke about the tendency of children without driver's licenses to purchase and ride vehicles that do not count as e-bikes under state law, suggesting that the police will be stopping these offenders and potentially calling their parents.

Existing state laws on e-bikes are limited, though Nantucket is one of many towns pushing for them to become more stringent. Several bills pending before the Massachusetts legislature or attorney general could tighten restrictions, including a home-rule petition passed by Nantucket that would cap e-bikes at 20 miles per hour on shared-use paths.

“We’ll re-evaluate next year as the laws change,” Kasper said.

At the 2023 Annual Town Meeting, island voters rejected Bruce Mandel's citizen petition to ban electric bikes, scooters, and other motorized devices from Nantucket's bike paths. Numerous attendees criticized the potential ban and the concept of forcing e-bike users onto busy roads such as Milestone Road and Fairgrounds Road.