BOERNE, Texas — Boerne resident Luis Mendoza has an e-bike, his only means of personal transportation.
Mendoza says he is overly cautious, but the bike goes 34 miles per hour, which is pretty fast. He’s also been told that his bike doesn’t require a license, registration or license plate.
“I spoke to the official, and the official said, ‘You don’t need registration, just take care,’” Mendoza said.
While Mendoza’s e-bike seems to be street legal, the Boerne Police Department said that’s not the case with every e-bike.
“There’s different classifications of e-bikes: Class 1, Class 2, Class 3. The Class 3 is when you start getting into more faster type bikes,” said Boerne Police Chief Steve Perez.
Police in Boerne are seeing more of those faster bikes driven by children under the age of 15 and in areas where they’re not allowed to be driving. The police department recently sent out a Facebook message reminding residents of the laws and potential penalties for not following them.
“The more powerful you get, the more limits you’re going to have on where you can ride those bikes, and I think that’s where people are getting held up on,” Perez said.
Perez said the confusion about these e-bikes is pretty common, and his department just wants people safe, whether they’re on an e-bike or not.
“I’d rather be doing this message now while our numbers are low or zero versus we’re here because we’ve had 50 accidents of people seriously injured,” said Perez.
While the City of Boerne is trying to stay in front of a potential problem, other Texas cities are also dealing with e-bike concerns. Union City and Leander have sent out messages to the public, while The Woodlands — outside of Houston — has reported roughly 40 incidents in the past nine months and dedicated a portion of a recent township meeting to the problem. It’s an issue that might not be solved unless state legislators take it up.
“Until the state of Texas actually defines rules against violations, we can’t take any action,” said one Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant.
The data points to speed and age causing issues in The Woodlands. Back in Boerne, the feelings are a little mixed.
“I’m so happy to hear that our community is looking into the e-bikes, especially on our walking trails,” said one woman walking her dog.
“Should that be up to the police or up to the parents, kind of thing? They’re not doing anything wrong, even though their might be some laws against it. I don’t think they’re doing anything wrong,” said another man walking along a Boerne street.
As for Mendoza, he’s a responsible adult, and he wouldn’t recommend it for kids.
“For the kids? No, no. No good because it’s very speedy,” Mendoza said.