Bloomfield Township officials approve 6-month ban on e-bikes

A week after two teens were seriously injured in a collision in Bloomfield Township, officials on Monday passed a six-month ban on electric bikes and scooters on the sidewalk.

Under the ban, residents may file a written request for an exemption, but if anyone is caught riding these vehicles when they shouldn't, the bikes and scooters will be confiscated and returned to their parents.

The temporary rule will give the council more time to establish an ordinance governing their usage in the community. 

Two 13-year-old boys were struck while crossing Telegraph Road at Hickory Grove Road last Tuesday. Police say the boys were crossing the crosswalk when a Ford F-250 pickup struck the vehicle. Police say one teen was wearing a helmet and another was not. 

While the teens were on e-moto bikes, which are already banned for kids that age, e-bikes have become a major focus of discussion in Bloomfield Township about what to do with them.  

"It shouldn't take a tragedy like this. We've been discussing it all summer, but it's important now because we had two young individuals that are members of this community in a hospital still, and they're not coming home anytime soon. Fortunate that they're progressing really well, but they have a long road to recovery, and the witnesses and the first responders out there that day, we don't need to see that trauma again," Police Chief James Gallagher said at the meeting.