Bit by bit, communities across Lake County are adopting various e-bike and e-scooter ordinances, ranging from additional regulations to complete bans, responding to growing safety concerns around the vehicles that have become increasingly popular in recent years.
But as summer draws to a close, there are some notable exceptions, including but not limited to Waukegan, the largest municipality in Lake County, and the county trail system, adding to what has become a varied landscape of differing rules, enforcement and public understanding.
Under Illinois law, e-bikes — in some cases referred to as low-speed electric bicycles — differ from an electronic motorcycle. An e-bike must have an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and is split into three classes.
Class 1 e-bikes have motors that only provide assistance when the rider is pedaling and that cut out when the bicycle reaches 20 mph. Class 2 e-bikes have a motor that can propel the bicycle alone, but cut out at 20 mph. Class 3 e-bikes have a motor that only provides assistance when the rider is pedaling and cuts out when the bicycle reaches 28 mph.
According to state law, Class 3 e-bikes have a minimum age requirement of 16 years old. E-scooters, meanwhile, require riders to be at least 18.
But the law also allows local governments to prohibit some or all classes of e-bikes on paths, leading to a patchwork of different laws across the suburbs of Chicago.
In Highland Park, the city outright banned all classes of e-bikes on its trails, citing concerns over speeding bicyclists colliding with pedestrians, despite resistance by some board members who felt the ban unfairly included lower-risk classes of e-bikes that allow for greater mobility for families and the elderly.
Earlier this month, Lake Bluff moved to strengthen its regulations, requiring e-bike and e-scooter riders to walk their vehicles on sidewalks in the central business district, following the example of Lake Forest, which had passed a similar ordinance for its downtown in 2023.
Libertyville has also moved to kick out all e-bikes and e-scooters from C-1 zoning areas, citing safety concerns, and Grayslake has advised its police department to step up enforcement of state e-bike and e-scooter laws. According to the village website, Grayslake does not allow e-bikes on village bike paths, and e-scooters are not allowed in the village.
And in Deerfield, motorized vehicles — including e-scooters and motor-driven cycles under 150cc, such as mopeds — are not allowed on sidewalks, bike paths, private property or parking lots, according to an informational flyer distributed by the village.
However, low-speed, pedal-assist-style bicycles are allowed on bike paths in Deerfield, since they are regulated by the state. The variations have led to confusion over the rules.
During a Deerfield board meeting earlier this month re-examining e-bike and e-scooter regulations, trustees acknowledged the confusion by community residents over what was and was not allowed, although they voiced overall support for the move.
Deerfield Mayor Daniel Shapiro said he and other mayors had conveyed their concerns over the lack of state-level regulations and uniform rules to state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest.
Even Highland Park, which has a fairly uniform ban, ran into some confusion. While the ban remains for the Robert McClory bike path, which is under the city’s authority, the Skokie Valley Trail, although maintained by Highland Park, is under Lake County’s jurisdiction, which permits the use of e-bikes on the trail.
In board discussions over the past year, area officials have questioned how to go about enforcing regulations that differentiate between classes of e-bikes, and keep the public informed. State regulations require riders to label their bikes with the motor wattage and classification type.
In Deerfield, board members encouraged residents to reach out to law enforcement with reports of unsafe riding behavior.