The Oak Park village board unanimously voted to adopt a new ordinance on e-bikes, e-scooters and other micromobility devices on July 14. That ordinance goes into effect immediately.
This ordinance mirrors Senate Bill 3484 which passed the state legislature unanimously in June and now awaits action from Gov. JB Pritzker. If he signs the bill, it will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027. The bill proposed more comprehensive regulations on higher power and speed devices that do not fall within the three classes already defined.
For class 1 and 2 low-speed e-bikes which are peddle or throttle assisted and only go up to 20 miles per hour, one must be 15 to ride. The age requirement goes up to 16, or 18 if there is a passenger, for class 3 e-bikes.
A rider of a high-speed bike with a motor of 750 or more watts that can go faster than 28 miles per hour must be 16 or older and have a driver’s license, title, registration and insurance.
All electric devices, including e-skateboards and low-speed scooters, are prohibited from riding on sidewalks.
Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson and Deputy Chief Roderick Robinson presented their plans and existing efforts for this new ordinance at the meeting. This was a coordinated effort with the village’s transportation commission and board of health. Police will mostly focus on education with enforcement efforts only for the most “egregious acts.”
“We’ve agreed that regardless of what the regulations are, regardless of when they’re implemented, there needs to be something out there that communicates how to use these devices safely, and to make people aware of the risks that are involved,” said Greg Olsen, Oak Park’s public health director, during the meeting.
The village launched a safety campaign called “E-ride Ready” emphasizing the five ways to ride safely and additional information on risks for these devices. Additional educational materials will be shared through social media, online and in physical forms like brochures. They also plan to partner with Oak Park schools once they reopen to reach children directly.
One of the safe driving recommendations is to protect your head, but state law does not mandate helmets therefore the village has no power to enforce that aspect. Village attorney Greg Smith called it “a real spaghetti bowl of preemption language.”
Trustee Cory Wesley shared his frustration with this and questioned how officers would be able to effectively know the age of the children riding devices and what speed they are going.
“I have some concerns there around how we plan to actually enforce this in a way that doesn’t create an undue burden both on the people who are riding these devices and on our police force who are now being asked to distinguish the indistinguishable,” said Wesley.
Ideas to encourage the use of helmets such as doing giveaways or offering a subsidy were mentioned during the discussion.
Trustee James Taglia said he is in favor of “education, education and more education,” however, he also is interested in enforcing violations committed by children through their parents. Under Illinois state law, parents cannot allow their children to violate the vehicle code and assume civil liability.
“These parents are dummies letting their kids run around on these motorized vehicles, and I think that they should be held accountable,” Taglia said.
He clarified later in the meeting that he does not support enforcement to “seek out, profile or cause trauma to little kids,” but does believe if the village only relies on education, kids will not learn the difference.
Pritzker has 60 days from June 30 to approve or veto Senate Bill 3484.