Glencoe adds regulations to e-scooters and e-bikes

Starting Aug. 30, residents of Glencoe will be subject to new regulations on motor-driven vehicles, including electric scooters and electric bikes, as outlined in an ordinance the Glencoe Village Board passed on Wednesday.

In recent months, the Village Board has directed public safety staff to assess e-scooter and e-bike regulations in nearby municipalities, including Deerfield and Highland Park, and develop an ordinance for Glencoe.

This measure follows an increase in safety concerns regarding motor vehicles across the North Shore, including “reports of significant injuries in surrounding communities,” according to Village documents.

Sean Loughran, Glencoe’s Director of Public Safety, presented the proposed ordinance on Wednesday, and trustees unanimously approved it, with Trustee Georgia Mihalopoulos in absentia.

“We want to make sure, ultimately, we have a strong base that allows us to face problems that have arisen, address some citizen complaints and ensure a better, more universal safety,” Loughran said.

New rules

The ordinance outlines provisions for “motor-driven vehicles.” Further specifications for e-scooters address loose ends left by the state’s Public Act 103-0899, which amended the Illinois Vehicle Code in August 2024.

Village Code defines “motor-driven vehicles” as “Any vehicle for which the State of Illinois does not issue a title document, does not issue license plates or registration documents, and is a wheeled or tracked vehicle equipped with an electric or gas motor, Motor-Driven cycle, or other similar vehicle, regardless of whether the vehicle is operated by pedals with a chain or throttle assist, including low-speed electric bicycles and electric scooters.”

The new ordinance, though, does not impose regulations on motorized wheelchairs and toy vehicles.

“We don’t know yet what the perfect thing is, and we hope that it’ll help make our residents and our young residents and our business districts safer, so this is our best effort,” Village President Howard Roin said.

Under the new ordinance, riders of motor-driven vehicles, including e-bikes but excluding e-scooters, must be over the age of 16. Riders who do not meet both of these qualifications can operate a motor-driven vehicle, excluding e-scooters, with adult supervision and accompaniment.

The Village imposed stricter regulations for e-scooters.

State law distinguishes “low-speed e-scooters” — a device weighing less than 100 pounds and with a maximum speed of no more than 10 mph — from other e-scooters. The law says that riders of low-speed e-scooters must be over the age of 18 and does not address other e-scooters.

Glencoe’s ordinance regulates all e-scooters (low-speed and higher-speed e-scooters) in the same manner. Riders of e-scooters must be over the age of 18 and hold a valid drivers license. No exception is made for minors, even with adult supervision.

The ordinance also outlined where motor-driven vehicles, including e-bikes and e-scooters, may be used. Motor-driven vehicles may only be operated on the roadway, and are prohibited on sidewalks and village-owned parking lots. Riders must wear a helmet and obey posted speed limits and traffic signals, per the ordinance.

Safety and education

Loughran said the primary complaint Glencoe’s public safety staff receives about motor-driven vehicles involves minors unsafely operating them on sidewalks and through the business district.

“This creates a very difficult situation for us to maintain safety, enforce the rules and yet not come down like a ton of bricks on a minor who’s operating these things,” he said.

The new regulations imposed on motor-driven vehicle riders are based on the presumption that if individuals are of a certain age and have a drivers license then they have taken a driving course and understand basic road safety, Loughran said.

“If they were under the age, it’d be very hard for us, if not almost impossible, to ensure that they have some sort of manner of training,” he said.

Loughran added that back-to-school — which started Wednesday, Aug. 20 for New Trier High School and Tuesday, Aug. 26, for Glencoe District 35 — will provide additional opportunities for road safety education; however, he said without this ordinance the Village is “limited.”

Noncompliance with the ordinance will result in citation. If a minor violates the ordinance, public safety staff can cite the adults, Loughran said. Multiple issues may create a pathway to enter the cited individual into adjudication court.

“This is a key best practice that our neighbors to the north are utilizing,” Loughran said. “As ever, the most important thing is 100% compliance with zero citations issued, and I think that it’s attainable.”

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