Friday, September 6,
2024

HAWAII NEWSHonolulu Council
wheels out e-bikemeasures
By Ian Bauer
Today • Last updated 11:18 p.m.
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AUG. 30
An electric bike user travels along Ward Avenue.

Two pieces of legislation meant to provide
clearer safety standards and more regulationon the use of fast-moving electric bicycles on
Oahu’s public roadways and sidewalks and inparks, rolled out of Honolulu Hale this week.
The City Council voted Wednesday toapprove the first reading of Bill 52, whichseeks to revise city laws to include a threeclass system adopted in other jurisdictions
around the country.
Introduced by Council members Tyler Dos
Santos-Tam and Augie Tulba, the bill states
an e-bike — defined as “a bicycle equippedwith fully-operable pedals, a saddle or seat
for the rider, and an electric motor of less

than 750 watts” — should now meetrequirements of one of the following classes:
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Book Now>> Class 1: An electric bicycle equipped witha motor that provides assistance only when
the rider is pedaling and that ceases toprovide assistance when the bicycle reaches
the speed of 20 mph.
>> Class 2: An electric bicycle equipped witha motor that may be used exclusively topropel the bicycle and that is not capable ofproviding assistance when the bicycle
reaches the speed of 20 mph.

>> Class 3: An electric bicycle equipped witha motor that provides assistance only when
the rider is pedaling and that ceases toprovide assistance when the bicycle reachesthe speed of 28 mph.
At the meeting, Waianae resident James
Manaku Sr. said the city needed to address
the use of e-bikes, especially those ridden byteenage children.
E-bikes “are good to have … but these kids
are going crazy,” he said. “In Waianae they’reon the highway competing with the cars, andthat is crazy.”

Vice Chair Esther Kia‘aina suggested that
pending legislation she’s co-sponsored with
Dos Santos-Tam — Bill 44, which looks tolower speed limits in school zones — could
be modified to cover e-bikes.
“During committee consideration (for Bill 44),
I will be offering an amendment to have aspecific speed limit for e-bikes for city parks
as well as city sidewalks,” she said. “There’svarious ways of tackling this issue, and I thinkit’s critically important for all of us to provide
safety for all — not just our keiki and kupuna,
but all of the residents of Oahu.”
The Hawaii Bicycling League, which helped
craft Bill 52, also spoke in support.
“This measure adds important clarifications toour law, and it also supports a charter
amendment in 2006 that was adopted by thevoters that requires the city to be a morebicycle- and pedestrian-friendly city,” HBL
Advocacy Director Eduardo Hernandez said.
A similar Council resolution adopted at thesame meeting urges the state Legislature to“update and clarify” Hawaii laws related to“electric bicycles and electric dirt bikemotorcycles.”Council member Val Okimoto’s Resolution
199 states that e-bikes and “the unlawful useof electric dirt bike motorcycles masquerading
as e-bikes on or in the public roads, streets,
bicycle paths and lanes, sidewalks, parks,and open spaces has increased dramaticallyin recent years, with 5,300 e-bikes registered
as of March 2023.”

The resolution asserts that Hawaii’s trafficcode says that e-bike riders, as all bicycle
riders “riding upon a roadway, generally havethe same rights and duties as other vehicle
drivers.”
However, “unlike 41 other states as of July
2023, Hawaii does not follow the 3-classsystem under which e-bikes are categorized
by their speeds and level of assistance,” theresolution states.

The legislation also states that “while only ebikes that would be classified in Class 1 may
be lawfully operated on Hawaii’s public
roadways, e-bikes that operate at speeds
exceeding Class 1 and even beyond speeds
permitted in Class 3 — ‘out-of-class’ e-bikes— are frequently driven on public roadways.”“Numerous public complaints have been
received involving e-bike riders failing toobserve the applicable laws, including riding
on sidewalks in Honolulu,” the resolution
states.
It says complaints include “riding in parks andopen spaces; riding without a helmet whenrequired; failing to observe rules of the roadin traffic — weaving between lanes of traffic,
or against or perpendicular to the flow oftraffic; failing to observe speed limits andtraffic signals; failing to yield to pedestrians;and performing ‘wheelies’ and other stunts oncity roadways.”
The resolution asserts legal issues regulating
e-dirt bikes have hampered law enforcement.
“E-bikes are easily confused with electric dirt
bikes, which are a type of two-wheeled, offhighway (or off-road) vehicle capable ofdriving off paved or gravel surfaces, such astrail and forest roads with rough terrain; andunlike e-bikes, dirt bikes are not ‘bicycles’
under state legal definitions because theylack operable foot pedals and most have amaximum speed capacity that greatly
exceeds 20 mph — some up to 90 mph; andfall instead under the state law definitions of a
‘motorcycle,’” the resolution states.
Before the vote to adopt Resolution 199,
Okimoto said, “In 2024 alone the unlawful
operation of e-bikes and (e-dirt) bikes has
played a part in a spate of e-bike accidents.”
Those incidents included “the death of anelectric dirt bike rider not wearing a helmet
after being hit by a motorist when the rider
was turning against a red light signal in urban
Honolulu, and the criminal injury of a child ebike rider who disregarded a stop signal,” shesaid.
She called on the state to impose stringent“registration and license requirements for ebikes, separate from traditional bicycles, withincreased fees for e-bikes that can operateover 30 mph,” and to “penalize ‘responsible
persons’ when a minor operates an e-bike or(e-dirt) bike unlawfully” as well as “penaltiesfor violations.”

“This is really to keep our community safe bythose who are not following the rules,”Okimoto said.

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