The Village of Walden board, after several discussions over the last few months, finalized the village’s new e-bike law during its December 16 meeting. In contrast to the comments from the previous meeting, a couple of residents raised concerns about riding e-bikes and e-scooters on village sidewalks and tails, posing safety risks for pedestrians.

During the law’s public hearing on December 2, some residents argued that e-bikes and e-scooters should be permitted on sidewalks, as forcing people to ride them in the streets could cause accidents with car traffic. Resident Heaney, (her first name was not recorded for the minutes) expressed the opposite concern during the December 16 meeting: she felt that these electric vehicles could prove dangerous for pedestrians. She emphasized that many seniors use the village sidewalks, and a person riding an e-bike at high speeds could crash into them.

“Someone stated that they saw no reason for people not to ride their e-bikes on the sidewalks. I disagree with the idea of e-bikes on sidewalks, I don’t think it’s safe. I know the person that said they had been here 37 years and didn’t see a problem here, but I’ve been here longer than that and I’ve seen a problem,” Heaney said. “I see the elderly out during the day walking their dogs on the sidewalks. And from my experience of seeing a woman riding her e-bike while standing up down the street, if that kind of action happens on the sidewalks, that’s definitely not safe.”

Similarly, Village Historian Mary Ellen Matise stated that e-bikes and e-scooters could lead to collisions on the Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail, citing a fatal bike accident as an example. She added that, if the board wants to enforce the law, it would need some form of monitoring.

“It says that any operation on a village-designated trail shall be limited to class 1 and 2 e-bikes only. But I’m going to tell you something: I know somebody who is now deceased, and he’s deceased because of the accident that he had on the rail trail. They didn’t run him over with a manually-powered bike, but somebody just knocked him right over,” Matise said. “Part of the problem is enforcement and regulation, and to have enforcement, you need someone monitoring. And we don’t even monitor regular bikes now following the estate code, that they have to stop at stop signs and red lights. And we don’t even monitor or enforce that, so this law can become a waste of paper.”

Following the public hearing, Trustee Gerald Mishk stated that mobility scooters are different from e-scooters and should be allowed on sidewalks, as they do not travel as fast compared to other electric vehicles.

“At the last meeting, we referred to people with handicaps riding scooters on the sidewalks. Those are not considered e-scooters; I printed this document out, and they’re actually considered mobility scooters. I don’t think those are an issue, they don’t travel at the same speeds that e-bikes and e-scooters travel at.”

Most of the trustees shared Heaney’s sentiment and did not want e-bikes or e-scooters ridden on village sidewalks. Trustee Bill Taylor stressed the importance of safety regulations, and Trustee Ralph Garrison Jr. reaffirmed that mobility scooters should be permitted on sidewalks.

“I agree with this lady (Heaney) who just presented, I don’t see a reason whatsoever that an e-bike needs to be on the sidewalk at all. I don’t see the justification and I haven’t heard the justification,” Taylor said. “It’s just an accident waiting to happen, and then it’s going to be too late to deal with the issue. Safety has to be the number one priority, always.”

“I think anything that’s not a mobility scooter should not be allowed on the sidewalk,” Garrison said. “I don’t want to be walking with my kids and have to dodge an e-scooter or an e-bike. Mobility scooters should be allowed 100%.”

At the end of the discussion, the board passed the e-bikes law. E-bikes and non-mobility e-scooters can be ridden on village-designated trails, but not village sidewalks.