Local business reacts to bill that could regulate electric bicycles in North Carolina

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - E-bikes, or electronic bicycles, have become a popularized way to get around, but there’s a new bill in the state senate that wants to regulate those bikes and create rules where you can ride one.

Senate Bill 576, proposed by Senator Michael Lee of Wilmington, looks to sort the bikes into 3 different classes depending on the specifications of the bike, requires riders to wear helmets, and allows the city to regulate where the bikes can be ridden.

For those who are unfamiliar with E-bikes, the explanation is in the name.

It’s a bicycle with an electronic motor to help propel you forward on the bike.

Erasmo Gomez runs EZ Electric Bike Tours around Wilmington and says the bikes he uses can only go up to 20 miles per hour.

But some bikes on the market now could get up to 40 or 50 miles per hour, rivaling the speed of a car.

“These high-powered e-bikes and they’re riding on the street with them and also riding on the trails, which terrifies a lot of people that are walking and kind of enjoying the day out there and a lot of kids are just taking advantage of the ability to ride fast on the trail,” said Gomez.

Gomez started his electric bike tour company in Wilmington three years ago.

However, over the years, e-bikes have exploded in popularity and power, turning an easy way to see the city into a potential hazard, especially with no restrictions in place.

“And we do see them blowing by people and sometimes unfortunately people kind of associate all e-bikes with those kinds of e-bikes and so sometimes they’re a little taken aback when they see me and my tours kind of go through,” said Gomez.

Gomez hopes the regulation can help set the community’s mind at ease when they see him and his tours.

But, he raises the question as to how the city will implement these potential new rules.

“I think it’s good, anything to ensure the public’s safety...but here’s the thing how does the town plan to regulate it? You can set these rules, but are you going to have more e-bike cops on trails?” said Gomez.

Gomez continues to say cops have tried to stop kids in the past from harmful activities on e-bikes, but that doesn’t work either.

“A lot of times, these off-road e-bikes, they wear helmets and when the cops try to pull them over they just outrun them and the cops can’t catch them so they let them go,” said Gomez.

Senate Bill 576 is up for its next hearing in the Senate Rules Committee, but the date of that reading has not been confirmed.

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