POINT PLEASANT — Many residents at a recent borough council meeting voiced safety concerns over a few issues within Point Pleasant Borough, specifically referencing the growing amount of e-bikes in the borough and the possible dangers that come with them.
Residents of the community expressed concern for the dangers of the younger children who operate these bikes.
“You are going to have to do something about the e-bikes. I almost got hit by one while walking my dog,” one resident said to Mayor of Point Pleasant Borough Robert Sabosik during the June 12 meeting. He agreed with the resident, saying how quiet they are and how they “sneak up on you.” He further said, “I walk my dog too, so I have the same problem.”
One resident referenced a story where he was driving in his car at 30 mph alongside two kids on e-bikes, one of which was riding on the sidewalk, and seeing these bikes keeping pace with his car, “We are heading for a catastrophe.”
One resident suggested that teenagers should not even be able to ride these bikes. Mayor Sabosik responded to this, and said there is not much the borough can do at this moment. “It is not within the power of the mayor and council to declare e-bikes can only do 15 miles or 20 miles an hour [mph]. We are trying to get them to slow down. Every part of town has the same e-bike problem,” he said.
Borough Administrator Frank Pannucci said, “The crux of the issue is trying to solve an issue and inadvertently creating more issues. We want individuals, especially the handicapped or young children, for instance, who use motorized items necessary to move around to be able to do so. We don’t want to completely ban a certain class of vehicle and inadvertently ban other ones at the same time.”
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