Wake leaders race technology in regulating e-bikes. Are more restrictions incoming?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Several Wake County towns are moving to potentially adopt new e-bike rules.
- State regulations classify vehicles by speed, power, and licensing rules.
- Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Raleigh and Cary have set greenway or sidewalk rules.
Local leaders across Wake County and North Carolina face a challenge in regulating e-bikes, e-scooters and similar vehicles.
In March about two dozen riders rode together through Wake Forest in what police called an e-bike takeover, slowing traffic, The News & Observer previously reported.
Nationally, more than 20,000 people are injured riding e-bikes every year, with around 3,000 people requiring hospitalization, according to a study by two University of California professors in 2024.
The variety and growing popularity of e-bikes and similar vehicles has led towns like Wake Forest and Holly Springs to adopt new regulations for them.
Cary officials discussed new restrictions last month, and Apex’s mayor has increasingly moved to engage with his community on the issue by meeting with e-bike users.
Raleigh leaders discussed e-bikes and similar vehicles Tuesday and talked about potentially updating the city’s regulations on them.
The vehicles are allowed, with certain stipulations, in all Wake County towns. But each municipality has different rules on where they are allowed and how fast they can go in certain areas.
Some municipalities rely entirely on state regulations, which mainly classify the vehicles, requiring license and registration for personal electric vehicles that hit certain benchmarks for power and speed.
What are the state classifications?
The state’s regulations mainly focus on classifying e-bikes and similar vehicles.
- E-bikes are motor-assisted pedal bikes that go no faster than 20 mph when powered by the motor only. Their motors can be as powerful as 750 watts.
- An electric moped can have pedal-assisted acceleration or motor-only acceleration. They can go as fast as 30 mph when powered by the motor only. They require insurance and registration with the state, but no license to drive. Drivers must be at least 16.
- An electric motorcycle can go faster than 30 mph when powered by the motor only. They require a license, insurance and registration to drive.
- Hoverboards or Segways are considered an “electric personal assistive mobility device” and are allowed on state roads with speed limits up to 25 mph.
Electric scooters, depending on how powerful their motor is or how fast they go, can fall into the e-moped or e-motorcycle categories under state law and require registration and insurance.
And the state legislature sent a bill to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk that would further expand the e-bike category into three more classifications based on top speed and if the motor can propel the bike without pedaling.
That bill gives counties and municipalities the power to regulate each of those new classifications of e-bikes by either setting speed limits on sidewalks and trails or restricting a classification of e-bike from those areas.
The bill also specifically mandates that e-bikes are allowed in state parks and historical sites.
Local police and officials have raised concerns that vehicles that are classified as e-motorcycles or mopeds are being advertised differently.
“I’m very troubled to hear that [e-motorcycles] are being marketed to parents as e-bikes not fully understanding the legal requirements to operate and use those devices,” Raleigh City Council Member Mitchell Silver said.
What do regulations look like in Cary?
E-bikes, as defined under state law, are allowed on town roads, sidewalks and greenways in Cary, provided the user is actually pedaling when on greenways and sidewalks.
“We have a 15 mile an hour speed limit on our greenways, but it’s basically unenforceable” because the town doesn’t establish any penalties for going over the speed limit, Cary Police Chief Terry Sult told the Cary Town Council in a work session last month.
The town doesn’t specify speed limits on its sidewalks.
Mopeds and motorcycles are not allowed on sidewalks or greenways. Mopeds are allowed on town roads with speed limits of 55 mph or under, and motorcycles are allowed on any roads.
How could regulations change in Cary?
Sult suggested the town set penalties for speeding on greenways and consider an education campaign on what kinds of electric vehicles are allowed on trails and sidewalks.
The council concurred, with several members saying they were confused about the state’s laws and vehicle classifications.
“We’ve sat through an entire presentation of how many slides trying to distinguish between classes of e-bikes versus mopeds versus motorcycles,” council member Brittany Richards said. “It’s very confusing.”
The council didn’t set a specific date for further discussion and doesn’t meet again until July 23.
What new regulations have some towns passed?
Both Wake Forest and Holly Springs adopted new e-bike regulations this year.
Wake Forest’s regulations ban “motorized scooters, electric bicycles, and other motorized recreational devices … from sidewalks, which are designated primarily for pedestrian use.”
Those vehicles are all allowed on Wake Forest greenways and in parks but with speed limits of 10 mph.
Holly Springs took a different route, and allowed e-bikes, scooters and other similar vehicles on its sidewalks and greenways with a 15 mph speed limit, provided their motors have no more than 750 watts of power and they can’t go faster than 20 mph.
Mopeds and motorcycles, whether electric or gas powered, are banned from those areas, however.
All the various motorized vehicles are allowed on public roads.
What about other towns/cities?
Raleigh has similar regulations to Cary, allowing e-bikes on roads, greenways and sidewalks with a 10 mph speed limit on greenways. Mopeds or motorcycles are prohibited on greenways or bike lanes.
E-bikes and scooters are allowed in bike lanes, and if there is a bike lane on a road, they’re not allowed on sidewalks.
Many of the smaller towns in Wake County have no specific provisions around e-bikes or other small electric vehicles, meaning as long as the user follows state statute and any other local guidelines, they can drive those vehicles on public roadways and trails.
That includes Apex, where Mayor Jacques Gilbert recently had youth bring their electric bikes and other vehicles to a gathering at Hunter Street Park to discuss safety. Over 200 people turned up, and many took safety pledges. The town doesn’t yet have any local regulations on the vehicles.
