Meridian Police launch campaign targeting e-bikes, e-motorcycles. Here’s why
The Meridian Police Department is turning its focus to e-bikes and e-motorcycles as the vehicles have exploded in popularity and prompted growing safety concerns across the city and Treasure Valley.
On Wednesday evening, the department held a community meeting to unveil its new education and enforcement campaign targeting unsafe and unlawful behavior on the electric vehicles. Dozens of residents gathered at Meridian City Hall to learn about the campaign and share a range of concerns and perspectives on the issue.
The campaign comes as local agencies have been grappling with how best to address an influx in complaints and calls for service related to e-bikes and e-motorcycles.
In late June, the city of Boise passed an emergency ordinance limiting the more powerful “e-motos” to public roads, citing a “concerning surge” in injuries related to electric transportation, the Idaho Statesman reported. Days later, a Boise teen died in a crash with a motorcycle while riding an e-bike, prompting even more concern. On Monday, Garden City adopted its own ordinance regulating high-speed e-motos and e-scooters.
Meridian officers at the meeting said they’ve seen a rise in e-bike and e-moto “close calls” in their jurisdiction and that the initiative aims to “get ahead” of the problem before it becomes more severe. According to Patrol Capt. Shawn Sopoaga, that’ll be by addressing misconceptions about the vehicles and bumping up enforcement of existing laws — rather than necessarily by looking to put new ordinances on the city’s books.
“With the state law, we have all the tools we need to do what we need to do, enforcement-wise,” Sopoaga told the Statesman in an interview Wednesday. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding about the laws, or just lack of understanding of what the laws are.”
Meridian police clarify rules for powerful e-motorcycles
Under Idaho law, e-bikes are defined as bicycles with pedals and an electric motor with a power output of up to 750 watts and the ability to travel no more than 28 mph. Like the popular Lime bikes in Boise, these bikes are subject to the same safety requirements as traditional bicycles. And a new law passed this session further clarified that e-bike riders need to follow regular traffic laws and exercise due care.
Anything more powerful or higher-speed than that, or without assistive pedals, can no longer be considered an e-bike, according to Sopoaga. Those vehicles, which the department calls e-motorcycles, would be treated the same as traditional motorcycles, he argued.
“They have to abide by the rules of a motorcycle,” he said. “It has to be titled, has to be registered. You have to have a sufficient driver’s license to operate it, insurance — the same laws apply.”
That also means e-motorcycles are prohibited from traveling on sidewalks, he said.
Sopoaga said that one of the first steps of Meridian’s campaign is to clear up this difference, especially for youth and parents.
“Our focus for this is really on ... protecting the youth,” he said, noting that, on Tuesday, an e-bike crash in Meridian sent a teenager to the hospital with serious injuries.
“A lot of the parents, they don’t understand the risks,” he added, especially of e-motorcycles, some of which travel up to 80 mph.
“You have a 12-, 11-, 13-year-old riding it really, really fast ... I mean, it’s dangerous.”
Sopoaga said the department is partnering with the West Ada School District and is kicking off a social media campaign about the different vehicles and rules governing them.
Targeted enforcement, tickets for parents
But Meridian also plans to up its enforcement of e-bike and e-motorcycle violations.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Meridian Police Lt. Brandon Clyde said the department has launched an email tip line for reports of possible violations and created an internal dashboard tracking e-bike and e-motorcycle calls for service. This data will help identify any “hot spots” and inform the department’s enforcement approach, which prioritizes “high-risk conduct” and “injury-prone violations,” he said.
Most stops for juveniles on e-bikes and e-motorcycles would begin with a written warning and a call to a parent or guardian, before escalating to a citation or more serious charge, Clyde said.
For e-motorcycle riders, common violations are similar to those for other vehicles on the road — things like reckless driving and driving an unregistered vehicle or without a license, Clyde said. Riders who flee the police could be guilty of a misdemeanor or felony crime.
Clyde reminded residents at the meeting that police need to have “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has occurred or is occurring in order to stop riders of e-bikes and e-motorcycles.
“We are not just going to randomly stop any of these e-motorcycle or e-bicycles,” he said.
He noted that the department is looking at “accountability” mechanisms for parents, too. This could include citing parents for allowing an unauthorized minor to operate an e-motorcycle or finding them liable for negligence in the case that the minor is under 16. Parents could even be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony in the case that they willfully put a child in the way of experiencing bodily harm or death, Clyde said.
Sopoaga told the Statesman that the department was planning to conduct one or more targeted enforcement operations regarding the vehicles in the coming months.
Some residents, especially seniors, want more guardrails
Several residents at the meeting expressed safety concerns and called for additional enforcement tools — at the state level, if needed.
“Sometimes people just don’t take education very well, especially kids,” said Meridian resident Louise Redd. “That’s why I think we need ... legislation.”
Redd, 80, said she has almost been hit by children and teens riding electric bikes and motorcycles while on the sidewalk. She believes there are loopholes in existing law, such as the fact there are no age requirements for e-bikes. Though e-bikes cannot travel more than 28 mph, they are often significantly heavier than traditional bikes, posing safety concerns, she said.
“I’m in pretty good health, but if I get knocked down on the sidewalk, I’m going to be bedridden the rest of the few years I have left,” she said. “I could be a vegetable.”
Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea said Wednesday that the department already has the enforcement tools it needs to address safety concerns around the vehicles, but said he has been in discussions with Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, around possible future legislative proposals.
“Personally, I’m not a big fan of putting ordinances on the books if we’re already enforcing them under state code,” Basterrechea said. He argued that the recent ordinances in Boise and Garden City don’t “give them any more enforcement power than what we already have under state code.”
“The biggest problem, I’ll just be very blunt, that we’re seeing, is this is really a parenting issue,” he said.
