New Canaan Police are preparing to educate local youth about e-bikes, officials say, as authorities expect young riders to re-emerge downtown once the weather warms up.
Police Chief John DiFederico said this week that he plans to assign the department’s school resource officers downtown on Thursday or Friday afternoons when the e-bikes appear to get the most use.
“So they [the SROs] can put a name to the face and we can get a roster of who’s riding their bikes up and down Elm Street,” DiFederico told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting, held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference.
The chief’s comments came during a discussion of the Police Department’s proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2026.
New Canaan last year began seeing young people using the motorized vehicles with some frequency, especially in the downtown.
In Connecticut, e-bike motors are not supposed to exceed 750W. There are three classes of e-bikes here—Class 1 is pedal-assist-only up to 20 mph, Class 2 is also up to 20 mph but doesn’t require the rider to pedal, and Class 3 provides power up to 28 mph. Though there’s no license or registration required for e-bikes, those younger than 16 are not allowed to ride Class 3. They’re prohibited on sidewalks and riders are required to wear a helmet.
In New Canaan, police have received complaints not only about e-bike riders on sidewalks but also some wearing improper helmets, loose helmets or no helmets. DiFederico has pointed in the past to a state statute regarding the operation of e-bikes and electric foot scooters. It allows towns to create their own ordinances regarding the vehicles, including “penalties” for violations, as well as provisions requiring annual licensing.
Yet identifying the core group of regular riders and educating them on safety and use could be more effective, officials say.
Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll said, “And I don’t know if you can educate parents because giving a kid basically a mini-motorcycle is probably not the best idea.”
DiFederico said that “it’s probably the same 10 or 15 kids” doing most of the riding here.
“There’s probably not a lot of different kids coming in and out,” he said. “So once we can figure out who those 10 or 15 are, we can address those 10 or 15 rather than blanket the town with a new ordinance or affect everybody. That’s not really fair to the people that are adhering to the laws when 10 or 15 are kind of outside of the lines.”
I have had personal interaction with many of the ebikes ,mainly at night downtown on weekends, as young as 14 after midnight. They are wearing black clothing, driving wrecklessly and often the wrong way down Elm St They are cutting off cars and almost knocked my neighbor over leaving a store one afternoon. The same resident was also almost hit head on by an ebiker. In addition, they are proud to share that there are after maket kits that can be purchased that will increase the speed of their ebike. I recently heard from a NCHS student that some ebikers are tailgaiting the buses after school. We need to write an ordiance before someoe is injured or killed. These ebikes are Not adults ! We need Parents, ebikers, Police and the Town Leaders all working together to SAVE PEOPLE’S LIVES !
Lol, they are not all that bad some kids ride recklessly, I ride a ebike and i follow traffic laws i feel like people look down on ebikes but not all riders are bad.
THANK YOU!!! The kids on e-bikes seem to have little if any respect for traffic laws and ride as though they own the roads – and often after dark. It is only a matter of time before there is a nasty accident – and it won’t only be a child suffering but also the poor driver. This can’t happen soon enough. (Better yet, ban the danged things from within a perimeter of downtown!)
Thank You Chief John DiFederico!!! Providing guidelines to the small group of youthful e-bike and electric foot scooter riders in a targeted fashion makes great sense. Please also include guidelines regarding the restriction of electric bike and e-scooter riders on the trails of our parks and bird sanctuary.