Skokie Park District prohibits e-bikes, e-scooters from use on district property

It is now forbidden to zoom through Skokie parks on an electric bicycle. 

The Skokie Park District Board voted unanimously on July 21 to prohibit the use of electric-powered bicycles and scooters on district property, except when to accommodate park access for individuals protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The amended ordinance also prohibits the use of “other electric or power-driven devices” on Skokie Park District property — like electric- or battery-powered hoverboards, skateboards, Segways, Onewheels and unicycles, a district board report shows. 

“The insight on that is just that we have had some resident complaints about it, and our paths, we feel like they’re safer if people aren’t walking, biking, or scootering e-powered,” said Michelle Tuft, executive director of the Skokie Park District. 

“The e-powered ones, because they can go so fast, they can cause injuries and whatnot, and there’s ample opportunity to ride them on the street,” she said, adding that district staff have directly observed safety concerns regarding e-bikes and e-scooters.

Unlike some nearby suburbs, the Village of Skokie has not prohibited or restricted the use of e-bikes or e-scooters on public property. 

Area residents can still ride those electric vehicles to Skokie parks and then enter the district’s more than six miles of paths on foot or via human-powered bikes and scooters, Tuft noted.

The amended Skokie Park District ordinance defines a “low speed electric bicycle,” or e-bike, as a bicycle with a motor of less than 750 watts that can provide the rider assistance to reach up to 28 mph, a board report shows. 

The amended ordinance points to the state code’s definition of a “low-speed electric scooter” as a two- or three-wheel device weighing less than 100 pounds that, powered by an electric motor and human power, can reach a maximum speed of up to 10 mph.

The City of Highland Park voted last summer to ban e-bikes and e-scooters from City-owned bike trails, parks, parking lots and sidewalks so that the vehicles could only be operated on the road, but later amended their laws to allow e-bikes and e-scooters on trails. 

Citing an increase in safety concerns, the Village of Glencoe also voted to add age-limits for individuals riding e-bikes or e-scooters on public property. 

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