Marblehead’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee continued last week to grapple with how to respond to a surge in e-bike and e-scooter use, particularly among younger riders. The panel stopped short of recommending new regulations but signaled strong support for public education, trail etiquette guidelines and signage aimed at balancing safety for riders and pedestrians.
Committee Chair Gary Hebert opened the discussion with an updated presentation on crash data and state rules for e-bikes. He clarified, following a presentation at the previous meeting, that Massachusetts legally recognizes only Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes, which provide motor assistance up to 20 mph. More powerful Class 3 bikes, capable of 28 mph with assistance, are treated as motor vehicles, requiring a driver’s license.
Hebert cautioned against restricting access on popular routes such as the Rail Trail, which state law classifies as an “improved trail” where e-bikes are allowed.
“If you do take them away, for example, prohibit all e-bikes and e-scooters on the trails, then you would [be] sending them somewhere else and that might not necessarily be a safer place for the people, the users of those vehicles,” he said.
He suggested the town could instead consider signage to set expectations, including an advisory 15-mph speed limit and reminders for riders to yield to pedestrians, while pursuing outreach campaigns to encourage safe and courteous use.
Police Chief Dennis King echoed that approach, stressing both the limits of enforcement and the need to reach young riders directly.
“There’s not a situation where we have the ability to enforce, generally speaking, people going 15 or 20, um, on an e-bike or 25 miles an hour or scooter or the like,” he said.
Instead, police are focusing on “bad bike behavior that is reckless” and intervening when they can do so safely.
King said the department’s school resource officer will work with principals on bike safety sessions and general rules of the road. Committee members agreed to develop educational materials, potentially drawing on examples from Salem, MassBike and national organizations.
Officials noted that neighboring towns have taken different approaches. Some have capped e-bike and e-scooter speeds at 15 mph townwide, while others have distributed flyers on bike etiquette or run safety campaigns in schools. Marblehead officials said they will review those models before making recommendations to the Select Board.
Resident Rick Smyers, newly elected as the committee’s incoming chair, said he wholeheartedly supported the decision to lead with education.
“The behavior kids are able to do on these e-bikes is sometimes beyond their capabilities to do safely,” he said. “Education is a great way to fill that gap until they get more experienced and are able to operate more safely.”
But some residents remain skeptical of how the town is framing this issue. Dan Albert, a Marblehead resident who authored the bylaw creating the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, told The Current that the way crash data was presented at Monday’s meeting risked misplacing blame on young riders.
Referring to presentation data showing seven e-bike crashes between 2020 and 2024, Albert noted one 2023 incident description that read: “Motorist turning left out of Bubier Rd onto Pleasant St. struck e-bike in the middle of the road wearing all black without lights or reflectors.”
He said this description, one of several he raised concerns about, left out key context, noting there is no law against wearing black clothing and no indication of whether lights were even required at the time.
He also criticized what he called the town’s hands-off approach to the Rail Trail, where more powerful Class 3 e-bikes and motorized bicycles are becoming common, creating discomfort among pedestrians and cyclists alike.
“When you allow certain behaviors to be normalized, you create a problem,” Albert said. “So we do have a very serious problem of Type 3 e-bikes and motorized bicycles on the rail trail. It makes people nervous.”
He urged the committee to hear directly from young riders. Instead of only instructing them on safe behavior, he said officials should ask them why they ride where they do and what they think would make them safer. Children inevitably make mistakes, he added, and the town should embrace a “safe systems” approach that anticipates those errors.
“The safe systems approach says, human beings make errors, that our job as road safety people is to build a system which accommodates and expects human error,” he said. “And unless we do that, all we’re doing is blaming the most vulnerable citizens.”
The committee is expected to revisit the issue at its next meeting on Oct. 20, when members will continue work on e-bike education materials and potential recommendations to the Select Board.
