CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Douglas County is considering a new ordinance targeting electric bikes after officials say the rapidly evolving technology has outpaced existing laws.
The ordinance will do a few things in the county, including making e-vehicles that can go over 30 miles per hour illegal, creating safety rules like requiring anyone under the age of 18 to wear a helmet, and creating minimum fines for reckless driving of $500.
The issue spans a wide range of electric bikes, from pedal-assist models to throttle-powered bikes with no pedals that resemble dirt bikes.
"Right now, our laws just simply have not kept pace with the rapidly evolving technology, and we are doing the best to fill that gap," DougCo Undersheriff Jason Kennedy shared during a press conference Wednesday.
"We fear that it's only a matter of time before these incidents end in a tragedy," Kennedy added.
County Commissioner Abe Laydon's message to parents was direct.
"For citizens out there that are thinking about purchasing an electric bike for your kids, don't buy these," Laydon said during the press conference.
Over the last year, Kennedy said the sheriff's office has investigated at least two fatal collisions involving these bikes.
These are vehicles they say can go up to 80 miles per hour. The undersheriff said the department has been speaking with riders about safety concerns, with the average rider they've spoken to being 12-14 years old.
Some Douglas County communities have already taken the initiative to limit the use of these bikes.
Earlier in the spring, Castle Pines passed an ordinance establishing safety rules for off-highway and low-speed electric vehicles.
"It's really about public safety and having it just be safer for the community," Castle Pines Mayor Tracy Engerman shared with Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito in May. "So they [kids] can enjoy the recreation, outdoor recreation amenities that we already have within the community."
Engerman specifically noted their ordinance applies to electric dirt bikes and off-highway vehicles.
"If an officer sees an abuse of these rules, they can pull the person on the vehicle over and they can give a fine," Engerman said. "If the person on the vehicle is a minor, the fine then transfers and is given to the guardian or parent of the minor."
Parker resident Jenifer Jeanne says she's seen kids on these bikes in her neighborhood. Some are respecting the rules of the road.
"I'm seeing some responsibility, kids geared up, good clothing, head to toe," Jeanne said.
Others, she says, have been reckless.
"Then I'm seeing the other half of them zooming in and out, they're riding on sidewalks, they're riding through yards," she said.
Not everyone opposes electric bikes outright.
Jane Moore lives in the Plum Creek area of Castle Rock and relies on her e-bike to stay active.
"I want to stay active, but with the mountains on some of the steeper hills, I like to put it on number two for pedal assist, so that I don't fall over," Moore explained.
Her bike reaches 28 mph, so it would not be subject to the ordinance. Even so, Moore acknowledges the safety concerns are real.
"I've seen kids doing wheelies on the street at a high rate of speed, and they could easily fall over and crack their heads, but somehow they don't," Moore said.
Moore thinks the same rules should apply to these bikes as they do a car when it comes to who can operate them.
"When we were kids, we had to take bicycle registration classes in California," Moore recalled.
In Castle Rock, Alex Stambuk has watched the bike industry evolve over his 27 years as part of the downtown community running The Country Peddler.
"We were, what, 20,000 people when we moved in into town, so it was very, very small," Stambuk said.
He has seen 10-speed bikes, the mountain bike craze, and now throttle-powered bikes with no pedals at all.
His employee Zach Richardson represents a younger generation that grew up alongside the technology.
Stambuk says mountain bikes once transformed the industry, but now it are these motorcycle-esque vehicles.
He services the newer throttle-powered bikes but does not sell them — and has concerns about how fast they go.
"I'm not against it, because they keep the doors open," Stambuk shared. "we don't sell them; we do service them. I believe they go way too fast."
But he does sell the kind of bikes that would still be considered legal if the ordinance in DougCo passes.
"It'll be a pedal assist up to 28 miles an hour, but you could also downgrade the speed or lower the maximum speed to 15 miles an hour, so that's something that you have full control of," Stambuk detailed.
But still, Richardson believes pedal-assist bikes are here to stay.
"I think they're probably going to stay. I don't see them necessarily going away," Richardson said.
You can provide comment about the ordinance in DougCo here.
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