An e-bike is parked on the Sea Isle City Promenade near the gazebo.
In 2022, Sea Isle City imposed a 10 mph speed limit on electric bikes traveling on the oceanfront Promenade in response to complaints of riders nearly hitting children and other pedestrians.
Although Sea Isle took local steps then to crack down on speeding e-bikes – including giving police the power to hand out tickets – city officials are now calling for broader statewide regulations to improve safety.
City Council, with the support of Mayor Leonard Desiderio, approved a resolution Tuesday urging Gov. Phil Murphy and the state Legislature to enact sweeping reforms for the operation of electric bikes and scooters across New Jersey.
“The establishment of clear, consistent, and enforceable statewide regulations would help ensure the safe and responsible operation of electric bicycles and scooters while still promoting their use as an alternate means of transportation,” the resolution says.
The resolution is calling for the state to set minimal age requirements for e-bike and scooter riders, maximum allowable speeds and rules governing their operation on sidewalks.
Sea Isle also wants the state to impose safety standards for e-bikes and scooters, including lights, reflectors and braking systems.
“With the current state laws in place regarding e-bikes and scooters, local municipalities are limited in what we can do to regulate their operation, which is why we need the state to act,” Desiderio said at the City Council meeting.
Sea Isle also wants the state to give local police departments enforcement power over e-bikes and scooters, including penalties for traffic violations as a way “to promote compliance and accountability.”
“The Sea Isle City Police Department, along with law enforcement agencies throughout the state, has reported difficulties in achieving consistent enforcement due to the absence of uniform statewide regulations governing the operation, minimum age limits, helmet use, insurance requirements, licensing, equipment safety, permitted areas of operation and enforcement procedures, thereby creating inconsistent rules and potential safety risks across municipalities,” the resolution says.
Sea Isle Councilman Mike Jargowsky shows a cellphone photo that he took of an e-bike safety sign in Asbury Park.E-bike safety has been a hot topic in other municipalities this year. In July, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian wrote a letter to Gov. Murphy urging him to collaborate with state legislators, local law enforcement agencies and municipalities to come up “with a solution” to improve e-bike safety.
Gillian’s letter followed a frightening incident in Ocean City in which the mayor nearly struck two-young e-bike riders who blew through a red light and were traveling on the wrong side of the road.
“Only the grace of God saved me from killing them. The near-miss has shaken me to my core,” Gillian said shortly after the incident.
Cape May County Republican Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, who lives in Ocean City, is supporting a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda S. Carter (D-Somerset, Union) that would require all e-bikes to be registered with the state Motor Vehicle Commission and to be insured. The proposed legislation would not require low-speed e-bike riders to have a driver’s license.
Sea Isle’s resolution calls on the state to go even further to regulate e-bikes – noting that their “rapid acceleration, higher maximum speeds, and nearly silent operation can present significant safety risks,” including collisions with pedestrians and motor vehicles.
Mayor Desiderio noted that there was an e-bike accident in Sea Isle on Aug. 31. A 46-year-old man who was vacationing in Sea Isle fell off his e-bike and suffered head injuries. The rider was not wearing a helmet, Desiderio said.
One major reason that Sea Isle hopes the state enacts more stringent regulations on e-bikes is to prevent riders from operating them recklessly, Desiderio said in an interview after the Council meeting.
“I know we’ve all had instances where we’ve seen e-bike riders riding recklessly. You see them riding recklessly on the sidewalks or on the wrong side of the street,” he said.
In 2022, Sea Isle City reduced the speed limit to 10 mph for e-bikes riding on the Promenade after complaints that riders were speeding.
