By MADDY VITALE
Go ahead and take that cruise through Ocean City on your E-bike. Just do it while following the rules of the road, Police Chief Jay Prettyman is urging bicyclists.
The electric bikes may be convenient and easy to ride around on during the busy spring and summer season, but some residents have complained that some cyclists don’t follow traffic laws and others are downright “reckless.”
Some people have been injured or nearly injured in instances last summer.
Residents have complained that the cyclists speed and don’t consider others on the road, including pedestrians on the Boardwalk, downtown and other areas in town.
Prettyman put a plan in place last summer season, when more and more E-bikes began zipping around Ocean City. He is emphasizing the need for bike safety for this summer, too.
“E-bikes have become incredibly popular, by riders of all ages, and more and more people are buying them each year,” Prettyman told OCNJDaily.com on Tuesday. “I also understand that many people are frustrated with the increased usage of E-bikes, but the vast majority of E-bike riders do so responsibly.”
Prettyman was responding to complaints from local residents, including Susan Cracovaner who addressed City Council on April 27 about the dangers of E-bikes.
“After nearly being run over by E-bike riders on the Boardwalk earlier this year, my husband contacted Council members, the police chief, the city solicitor, the mayor and our Assemblymen, only to be told that E-bikes are subject to the rules and regulations for non-powered bicycles and that any change would have to take place at the state level.” Cracovaner said when speaking to Council.
That, she said was “avoiding responsibility for the safety of the people who live and visit Ocean City.” She also said that the city can’t wait for the state to do something about it because the regulations that may be enacted won’t necessarily address the unique needs of Ocean City and other shore communities.
“Regulations need to address the use of E-bikes on our streets, Boardwalk, bridges and sidewalks,” she noted.
When cyclists on E-bikes or other bicycles are riding on the road, bikers are required to follow the same laws as motor vehicle traffic.
Last June, Prettyman wrote a letter to the community about the escalating problem of E-bike and regular bike riders not following the rules of the road. He urged not only the young E-bike riders, but also the parents, to keep their kids under control amid an increase in juveniles “recklessly” riding their electric bikes and regular bicycles through town. There were two bike crashes within weeks of each other last summer.
According to a city ordinance, it is the responsibility of parents “to govern their children’s actions” when they are 15 years old or younger. Prettyman cited the wording of the ordinance in his letter to parents and local students last June.
In his letter, which he sent to parents and students in the Ocean City School District, Prettyman emphasized that police would hand out tickets to juveniles who speed on their bikes or violate other traffic laws.
Bikers 15 years old and older would be old enough to receive tickets. Those who are younger may be taken to police headquarters and would have to wait for their parents to pick them up – a process known as a “stationhouse adjustment.”
But the goal is to educate the riders to heed the laws to make sure they are safe, and that motorists and pedestrians are safe as well, Prettyman said.
“We will continue to do our best to address the riders who operate them carelessly,” he said.
