“Trying to come up with common sense measures having to do with who has to wear a helmet, what age you can be, what happens if you do reckless behavior on your e-bike.”
HONOLULU (KHON2) — If your child wants an e-bike for Christmas, think twice. City Councilmembers are looking at stricter regulations to keep everyone safe on the road.
In August, Councilmembers Augie Tulba and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam introduced Bill 52, which modernized definitions for electric bicycles. The bill was drafted in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, among others. The City’s E-Bike Working Group was formed in concurrence with the bill.
Since January of 2024, the Honolulu Emergency Services Department reported 180 e-bike crashes on Oahu- an alarming number for City Councilmembers. Now, the E-Bike Working Group plans to create more clear and enforceable regulations.
“Trying to come up with common sense measures having to do with who has to wear a helmet, what age you can be, what happens if you do reckless behavior on your e-bike,” stated Roger Morton, Department of Transportation Services Director. “We just can’t have the level of crashes that we’re having.”
DTS will aim to categorize various e-bikes into classes based on speed, determine appropriate areas where certain e-bikes are allowed to operate, licensing requirements and more.
“It’s silly to me that you could have a kid on an e-bike going 28 miles an hour down the middle of Beretania Street, but they couldn’t ride a moped, they couldn’t get a driver’s permit, and yet they’re able to do that,” said Dos Santos-Tam.
As of now, officials said it’s a ‘no man’s land’ when it comes to police enforcement. With stricter rules, Dos Santos-Tam believes enforcement will be easier.
“Reckless driving such as wheelies, and packing of multiple vehicles- those are issues that we see all the time, but there’s kind of a gray area in our ordinances and in our revised statutes,” stated Morton.
Councilmembers expect to have recommendations from the Group by mid-November ahead of the next Transportation Committee meeting slated for Tuesday, Nov. 19.
“We want to get this done by the end of the year, by Christmas time, to have some clear expectations around e-bikes knowing that a lot of kids are going to get them for Christmas,” said Dos Santos-Tam.