Officer Irving Rodriguez, spokesman for Vienna’s Police Department, said some kids are removing an e-bike’s speed limiter or, in some cases, turn it off completely. It’s something that can be easily researched on YouTube, he said, and parents often don’t know the modification has been made.
The town’s efforts, which focus on keeping trails, parks, neighborhoods and streets safe, are the latest in a broader push to address e-bike trends across the D.C. region.
Loudoun County’s School Board has considered partnerships to address troubling e-bike trends near campuses, and the sheriff’s office there is hosting an e-bike safety class in July.
Haymarket, meanwhile, recently banned electric vehicles from the town’s sidewalks.
And during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Chairman Jeff McKay said Fairfax County police are proactively speaking to kids riding e-bikes in the community, even if they’re not doing anything wrong.
“They do travel at an extremely high rate of speed,” Rodriguez said. “They are known to be extremely quiet, and if you combine that with pedestrians on a sidewalk or on the street, or in a busy park, that could lead to somebody getting seriously injured.”
Virginia classifies different types of e-bikes into categories based on their features. Class 1 e-bikes only have a pedal-assist function, with a maximum motor power of 750 watts. There’s no throttle, and the maximum assisted speed is 20 miles per hour.
Class 2 e-bikes have a maximum motor power of 750 watts, but may also feature a throttle.
Class 3 e-bikes have a pedal assist function and could travel up to 28 miles per hour.
Anyone riding a Class 3 e-bike has to be at least 14 years old and is required to wear a helmet. A driver’s license or plates aren’t required, but motors have to be 750 watts or less. Class 3 e-bikes aren’t allowed on the W&OD Trail.
Once someone tampers with the maximum speed of a bike, Rodriguez said it’s not considered an e-bike anymore. Vehicles that go faster than the Class 3 standard “are classified as mopeds or motorcycles,” according to Fairfax County Government.
“Parents don’t know that the children are modifying these class 1, 2 or 3. e-bikes, and that’s the biggest issue we’re having at the moment,” Rodriguez said.
Through Vienna’s campaign, police have cracked down on off-road vehicles, and as a result, there have been fewer of them around the town, Rodriguez said.
In some cases, “we’ve seen reckless driving, we’ve seen stunts, we’ve seen riders traveling at a high rate of speed, or sometimes juveniles not wearing helmets when they are required to,” Rodriguez said.
Police in Vienna have been stopping e-bike riders, teaching them about the necessary safety equipment and Virginia traffic laws. They’ve been contacting parents too.
They’ve also identified some hotspots, including near the Vienna Community Center, or other areas near the W&OD trail. Some riders use the sidewalks, but Rodriguez said the e-bikes are mainly appearing on the roads.
If a rider is traveling faster than the posted speed limit, performing stunts or riding unsafely near people, they can be stopped and possibly receive a fine, Rodriguez said.
In one case, on June 17, Vienna police stopped a juvenile riding an electric dirt bike on the sidewalk without a helmet. An investigation revealed the e-bike didn’t meet Class 1, 2 or 3 criteria, and a guardian “responded, took custody of the juvenile and e-bike, and both were educated on e-bike regulations, off-road style electric dirt bikes, classification requirements, and helmet use,” according to police documents.
Separately, Loudoun County School Board Member Deana Griffiths has been advocating for increased collaboration with the sheriff’s office and Board of Supervisors to crack down on e-bikes near schools.
In Fairfax, Supervisor Walter Alcorn feared there could soon be incidents involving e-bikes that result in “serious injuries and worse.”
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