Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation to regulate e-bikes to keep them from operating on sidewalks and to have statewide regulations for police to enforce.
The bill passed with mostly bipartisan support in the final hours of the spring legislative session. It now goes to the governor's desk for his signature.
The bill, an initiative of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, would create statewide regulations on e-bikes and could clear up any legal gray areas about operating an e-bike on a sidewalk, as in the case of Illinois State University administrator Adam Peck who died after he was struck by e-bike while walking on campus in 2022.
Peck, with his wife, Michele, had advocated for e-bike regulations in multiple states. She said that's because they were avid walkers and he had almost been hit multiple times while walking through university campuses in Texas and at ISU before he was struck and killed.
Police said there was a gray area in Illinois law on whether e-bikes are allowed on sidewalks, which meant there was not enough probable cause to support criminal charges.
“It was illegal for that person to be operating on a sidewalk, but when I reached out to the [McLean County] state's attorney, and when Illinois State Police reached out to the state's attorney,” Peck said, “they had mentioned it was a gray area.”
Peck said the bill would enable police to investigate these cases with more legal clarity.
“There wasn't a lot of clear language about what made a bike an e-bike, whether an e-bike was a motorized vehicle. There weren't national laws governing this,” Peck said.
The bill would require operators of electric bikes, scooters, skateboards or any electric personal transportation that can top speeds of 28 miles per hour to register their vehicle to show ownership, have a valid driver's license or permit, and have insurance. They would only be allowed to travel on streets, not sidewalks.
Higher speed e-bikes would be allowed only for people ages 16 and older, and drivers of lower-speed e-bikes would have to be at least 15.
Michele Peck said she was not involved in crafting the language of the bill but did help start conversations in multiple states about regulating e-bikes. She has also engaged with federal lawmakers to try to enact a national ban on e-bikes using sidewalks.
Peck said she wants the Illinois bill to be a framework for a national bill.
Peck said if the bill is signed she will work with the Illinois secretary of state’s office to continue teaching people about e-bike safety.
“Wanting to be part of getting the word out, having people understand those restrictions, but also enforcement that none of these rules will matter if we don't enforce them, if police officers aren't aware that when they see somebody barreling down a sidewalk, that they're breaking the law,” Peck said.
Peck traveled from Bloomington-Normal to Springfield between kids and work to talk with local lawmakers to track the bill and advocate for its passage.
Republican state Rep. Regan Deering, representing an area between Bloomington-Normal and Decatur, is one of the lawmakers Peck talked to. She voted for the bill.
“These new pieces of legislation and tweaks will not be retroactive, so the loss Michele incurred will not get the relief that she was looking for, but I understand that she's thankful for the legislation as we go forward,” Deering said.
Deering said Republicans often focus on local control, but this is an instance where the state needed a universal definition to regulate e-bikes effectively.
“Highlighting what is motorized, low speed versus higher speed, and just reflecting the actual danger that can come from inappropriate use of these modes of transportation in public spaces,” Deering said.
Deering said there was a lot of support from the community about protecting outdoor spaces.
Deering said people sometimes want to ride an e-bike instead of a car, but it was still important to ensure everyone's safety.
“The overall result is a protection of our young people, you know, our community members that allows us to just have very strict legislation, and then local enforcement can do their part,” Deering said.
Republican state Sen. Sally Turner, representing an area between Bloomington-Normal and Decatur, voted in support of the bill.
Turner said she talked to a lot of local government officials who support the bill because it makes it easier to protect people from getting hurt by e-bikes or a car hitting an e-bike. The Illinois Municipal League praised its passage.
“[Illinois] needs to make sure that [people] follow the rules and make sure that individuals don't drive those [e-bikes] too fast and stay on main roads,” Turner said.
Turner said this law gives more guidance to police when enforcing the law, where there might have been confusion before.
“I think this helps our police to be able to ticket if they need to be ticketing, so before I think that people were just on those bikes, were just kind of running rampant, and no one was doing anything about it,” Turner said.
Turner said the bill clarifies that police can ticket people for riding e-bikes on sidewalks, which endangers pedestrians. Violators would face fines.
Republicans and some Democrats had concerns about an amendment to align the bill with current law that a person could not get a DUI for riding a low speed e-bike while intoxicated but riding a motor vehicle, a high speed e-bike, could lead to a DUI.
This language was taken out in the final bill that was passed, and now both low and high speed devices would be considered a motor vehicle, making it possible for a person to receive a DUI.
Peck said the amendment created some confusion on whether low speed e-bikes were motor vehicles but with its removal e-bikes will be classified as motor vehicles. She added despite the changes with the amendment, it was still important to pass the bill.
Michelle Paul, director of legislative affairs for the secretary of state's office, said the amendment was to address additional penalties for DUIs on low-speed devices in the bill.
“We kind of overcorrected and said they expressly don't, which is more lenient than existing law,” Paul said. “So, by taking out the section of the bill that amended DUI we're making zero changes to the DUI section of the statute.”
Paul said she has been in talks with lawmakers and removed any concerns about the bill.
How they voted
House
- [R] Jason Bunting - No
- [D] Sharon Chung - Yes
- [R] Regan Deering - Yes
- [D] Jehan Gordon-Booth - Yes
- [R] Bill Hauter - No
- [R] Ryan Spain - Yes
- [R] Dennis Tipsword - Yes
- [R] Travis Weaver - Yes
Senate
- [R] Neil Anderson - Did not vote
- [R] Li Arellano - No
- [R] Chris Balkema - No
- [D] Dave Koehler - Yes
- [R] Sally Turner - Yes
