By DOUG DONNELLY
Advance Editor
As more and more e-bikes hit the streets, enforcement of the law is becoming more difficult, Blissfield Police Chief Dale Greenleaf says.
“The law hasn’t caught up with the technology,” Chief Greenleaf said at the most recent village council meeting.
President Mike Gunter opened the discussion on e-bikes, asking about enforcement of laws such as those operating an e-bike not stopping at stop signs or generally disobeying traffic orders.
“They need to know the rules,” Gunter said. “The rules of the road need to be followed. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”
Chief Greenleaf said the laws of an e-bike are different than a motorcycle or other motorized equipment.
“E-bikes do not fall under the motor vehicle code,” he said.
He said he has studied the laws on e-bikes in Michigan and found little to go on at this point.
“Right now, I don’t have an enforceable mechanism to enforce (e-bikes) blowing through a stop sign,” Greenleaf added. “The only enforcement action I have … is to impound the bike. We all know how that’s going to work out the first time I impound someone’s e-bike. We’re all going to be very, very unpopular very, very quickly.”
Chief Greenleaf said he would like to sit down with village officials and create an enforceable ordinance where he could, for example, write tickets instead of impounding bikes.
“If there is nothing else, my thought is, we develop an ordinance that would apply to an e-bike and require them to follow the rules of the road.”
Leave a Reply