Vermont’s e-bike laws are not keeping up with advancements in battery technology, and lawmakers might want to update some of the rules for motorized bicycles.
That was the message from Legislative Counsel Damien Leonard, who spent about an hour recently talking to the House Transportation Committee about e-bikes.
The Legislature last substantially updated the e-bike law in 2021, but since then, Leonard said batteries have become more powerful and lighter, resulting in faster e-bikes that weren’t contemplated when the law was written.
“There is a gap in the statute that is not capturing what’s happened since you adopted the law,” he said.
E-bikes are basically treated like regular bicycles in Vermont. Owners do not have to register them, and they don’t need a license to operate them. With the exception of what are known as “class 3” bikes — the most powerful ones at the time the law passed — there are no age limits for riding them.
The more traditional e-bikes are capped at 28 mph, but Leonard said there are now e-bikes, sometimes known as e-motos, that can go much faster but which can still be considered an e-bike under the existing law.
Legislators have not yet introduced legislation to update the law.
Similar discussions are playing out in statehouses across the country, including in New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Florida and Massachusetts. Serious injuries, and in some cases fatalities, have added urgency to the discussions.
And in Vermont, some municipalities are also taking up the matter.
“The number of people using e-motos has gone through the roof, and it doesn't feel safe for anyone.”Erica Quallen Towle, deputy director of capital projects, South Burlington
The city of South Burlington is in the process of updating its rules, and a proposed update to its bike path regulations would prohibit e-bikes with motors of more than 750 watts.
South Burlington Deputy Director of Capital Projects Erica Quallen Towle said the steep rise in the number of people using e-motos has prompted the city to take action.
“There are people not respecting other riders, and it really feels like it’s ramped up over the past year,” Quallen Towle said. “The number of people using e-motos has gone through the roof, and it doesn't feel safe for anyone.”
In Vermont, e-bikes are generally allowed on any trail or road on state land.
The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation recently sought public input on updates to its own policies for e-bikes.
Recreation Program Manager Claire Polfus said the department received nearly 300 comments with very mixed responses, ranging from those wanting more rules around e-bikes to those wanting less.
Polfus said the department is updating its rules to match the state statute, and if changes are made to state law, then it is likely that the state lands and trails will also be affected.
Vermont Mountain Bike Association Executive Director Nick Bennette said he was paying attention to the discussions in Montpelier because the quickly advancing technologies are also having an impact on mountain biking.
Bennette said e-mountain bikes that operate at lower speeds are welcomed on many trails.
He said studies have found that they do not tear up the trails any more than a traditional bike, and the electric motors can allow riders who might have injuries or who have aged to get out on the trails.
But the new electric motorcycles, or e-motos, can damage trails, anger landowners and cause crashes.
“We’re trying to draw a really clear line around what is a pedal assist e-bike, and what is an e-moto,” Bennette said. “And I do have very serious concerns about things that fall into that e-moto camp. So we’re at a moment where education around this is super important."
