Festus council reviews draft e-bike ordinance, city attorney outlines classes and helmet, parental rules

The Festus Mayor and Council on Tuesday reviewed a draft ordinance aimed at regulating electric bicycles and similar motorized personal mobility devices after council members said recent community concerns focused on high speeds and risky sidewalk behavior.

City Attorney Brian summarized the definitions in the draft, saying, "Class 1 is the sort of, the lowest classification. That's where they max out at the speed of 20 miles per hour... Class 3 electric bicycles are gonna be your your fastest ones. Those are the ones that, they can go up to 28 miles per hour." The draft also lists definitions for electric scooters and motorized alternative vehicles that the attorney said come from state statute.

The ordinance would require protective headgear in most cases for riders under 16 and extend helmet rules to operators of motorized bicycles. Brian said the draft includes a parental-responsibility provision that allows the city to pursue court enforcement when underage operators are knowingly permitted to ride without required headgear.

Council members emphasized public-safety motives. One council member asked whether the police department had reviewed the ordinance; the police chief, who reviewed most of the draft, said enforcement "will depend on the situation of what's going on, kind of their attitude, if they've done it before and everything else." He said officer discretion and the circumstances of an incident would guide responses to violations.

Councilmembers called the regulation "sensible" and asked that the ordinance be placed on the next council agenda for formal consideration.