A new state law placing stricter definitions and rules on micromobility devices will likely take time to adjust to in Bloomington-Normal, according to law enforcement and hobbyists in the Twin Cities.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, new micromobility legislation will take effect, adding new regulations and clarifying definitions surrounding devices better known as e-bikes or e-scooters. E-bikes or scooters are the integrated electric motor versions of the traditional vehicles.
Namely, the law creates a statewide set of rules over all micromobility devices whereas state law and local ordinances left areas of confusion. It should help reduce the number of accidents in high traffic areas, like the two recent accounts in Bloomington-Normal, one of which was fatal.
Normal Police Officer Brad Park said education on the new law is first and foremost to avoid enforcement. The ultimate goal is safety.
“We want people to enjoy riding down their street and not have to worry or taking a run or a walk on a sidewalk, and not have to worry about a vehicle coming up on them that they might not hear,” Park said on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
But that did happen to someone recently in Normal. It happened to Craig Queen on the Constitution Trail on the morning of Oct. 5.
“I was about half a mile into my three-and-a-half to four-mile run that I do several mornings a week,” he said. “It had started to get dark when I’m out there. It was about 6:20 a.m., so the last few times I’d been out, I’d had a military grade headlamp, had reflective clothing…”
As Queen was walking west along Vernon Avenue, about to cross the street to get onto the trail, there was an impact. An e-bike rider, who Normal Police cited to be at fault, struck him from behind.
“I immediately felt impact, an impact against something, and immediately went down, was bleeding from my head, was in the grass,” said Queen.
Queen, who lives in Normal, said his memory is foggy now surrounding the events of the accident after being treated in the emergency room.
Although he got to go home that same afternoon, recovery was not exactly quick or easy. Queen said his left eye had been swollen shut for a time, and he had 16 stitches in his head that were later removed. He also is seeing a neurosurgeon at Carle BroMenn.
“I’ve been back to work since the week after the accident. I’m taking it easy. I’m driving,” he said, clarifying he has only driven in short distances. “By the time I get home at the end of the day, I’m very tired. My brain’s worn out.”
Even recalling what happened in an interview was straining for him, he said, adding he has scaled back his attorney work from the parts of the job which require a lot of deep thinking or analysis, which strains him.
Another accident happened in Bloomington. Chad M. Walden of Bloomington, 50, was riding an e-scooter Oct. 16 when he was struck by a van.
He later died from head injuries suffered in the crash. His family declined to be interviewed as a part of this story.
Education
The new law gives clarify for enforcement for police, though some key players, including police, want to focus efforts on education.
One is the McLean County Wheelers, a club for cyclists. Kellie Williams is president of the Wheelers and a regional action team member for Ride Illinois, a statewide bicycle advocacy organization. It has about 200 members.
As a cycling organization, Williams said the rules for the entire state help to reduce uncertainty on the club's rides.
“If you had every city and town creating their own guidelines and laws, you would have to perhaps change your behavior the minute you crossed from Bloomington to Normal, or... into Lexington, where does the county fit in about how to ride?” she said.
“So long as they follow all rules of the road, and we do, then that’s viewed probably positively.”
What she also appreciates about the law is how it clarifies the rules for e-devices among traditional bicycles, which are also considered to be micromobility. E-bikes can fit into three possible categories.
“Class one is you must pedal; it cuts out as soon as you stop pedaling, and it maxes out at 20 mph,” said Williams. “Class two also maxes out at 20 mph, but you can use a throttle without pedaling; and class three, you must pedal … and it tops out at 28 mph.”
Williams noted that all those bikes could look nearly the same and they come in different styles. The big difference is bikes that do not fit into those classes at all and what many confuse as a regular e-bike.
E-motos, or a motor driven cycle, will have some of the strictest regulations of all. The devices that can exceed 28 mph and do not require pedaling at all times will be forbidden for riders under 16 years old, they will not be allowed on any place but the road and will require the rider to have a license and registration.
The Wheelers already place a lot of emphasis on safety when riding, and Williams said that will simply continue.
Constitution Trail
Where some confusion still lies is on one of the county’s most treasured public offerings: the Constitution Trail. The trail, defined as a shared-use path, does not have clear guidelines about whether all e-bikes and scooters can use it.
Pat Dullard is president of the Friends of the Constitution Trail, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to the trail. He said the interpretation of the law in regard to the trail is still being decided between groups such as his and the governments of Bloomington and Normal.
As for Normal, City Manager Pam Reece said the town will allow them on the trail.
“We had our most recent meeting focused on education and communication,” Dullard said.
Dullard said at the grand opening of the trail about 37 years ago, no one envisioned e-devices. However, he does not think the answer to the problem now facing areas like the trail is preventing them from being on it.
“I think that where our best success lies is in education, is in communicating to various groups and new types of users about what the rules are and what can be where,” he said.
His position is not to necessarily to keep the lower-speed devices off, but to work with those users and make sure everyone who wants to use the trail can do so safely.
“I feel that everybody’s got a responsibility to act responsibly, and those new types of users need to be brought into the network. Everybody needs to be aware that they’re there and needs to be operating responsibly,” he said.
Ideally, Dullard said he would like to work with police departments or any of the universities in the Twin Cities to hold events where users can learn more about the devices they plan to ride.
Queen said after his accident, he would like to see a ban of them enforced on the trail. The impact of his injuries will be long lasting.
“I work with veterans, and I certainly don’t want to compare what I went through to what they’ve been through and their PTSD. But I certainly have a degree of that as far as reliving the impact, and I’m sure I always will” he said.
Queen said he plans to get back onto the trail after some time and to return to exercising, in the daylight from now on. He urges anyone walking, riding or running to be extra vigilant of their surroundings.
Enforcement
Park said on the road, all micromobility devices would be watched the same way as a motor vehicle.
“As funny as it might look for people driving by, that’s the options that our officers have to make the vehicle pull over, is to turn on our lights and hopefully they see us,” he said. “If they don’t see us, then the sirens come on to notify them.”
Park said the law resolves a gray area on how to monitor places micromobility devices might show up.
“Whether that is roadways, bike lanes, sidewalks — Constitution Trail is a huge thing that we get a lot of feedback and information from groups all throughout the community,” he said.
Another element of understanding, on top of other education efforts such as social media outreach, is having understanding with residents that the rules of the new law will take time to adjust to.
“I think it really comes down to the severity of the law being broken. …The law could be in effect for two weeks into January, and if we have someone doing something that’s blatantly, obviously wrong — not saying we can’t enforce something then — but I think it’s just that education,” he said.
Regardless, Park said the department would rather rely on an educational approach to the new law as they have for others. Like they did when Normal enacted an ordinance against standing on road medians.
“So, initially what we did when we had incidents that either our officers drove by and saw the people that were violating that ordinance, or we got a call in it from the community is we gave warnings for quite a while,” he said. “I think it’s going to become something similar with this where we need to maybe be a little educating at first and then enforcement later.”
Park said Normal Police Chief Steve Petrilli has full faith in the department to make decisions and train as they adjust to the law as well.
WGLT’s Eric Stock contributed to this report.
