With warmer weather finally sticking around in Butler County, police departments across the area are urging those riding electronic bikes to be cognizant of the laws surrounding them.

In a one month period across the latter half of May and the start of June, the Butler Eagle reported on four serious e-bike involved crashes.

On May 26, a man died in New Castle after hitting the side of a Butler County Sheriff’s Office cruiser. Just five days later, on May 31, a 12-year-old was taken to the hospital with a reported severe hip injury after crashing an e-bike into a vehicle in Butler.

The surge of e-bike involved crashes has since continued well into June. This past weekend, an injured person was flown by medical helicopter following an e-bike crash on Center Avenue in the city.

In a recent interview, Butler Police Chief Bob O’Neill said that while the City of Butler is great to navigate on an e-bike, riders need to be conscious of the rules surrounding them.

“The main thing is that they’re obviously going very fast. It seems like untrained bike riders are driving them more like motorcycles.” he said.

Amid the recent “mass proliferation” of e-bikes in the city, the department’s efforts are to make sure they are used safely.

“We have really tried to crack down in the city. We’ve stopped numerous e-bikes in the past two months and we’re preparing for the summer,” O’Neill said in late May.

He said incidents like what happened in New Castle are reminders that people can get killed in e-bike crashes.

“If a bicyclist hits a pedestrian, it’s not great. But if an e-bike hits a pedestrian, it’s extreme. It can be fatal,” he said.

He said the state has been catching up on regulations, which is helping make it easier for the department to enforce how they are used in the city.

“We’re just asking everyone to really consider all of the rules of the road,” he said. “Consider it almost as if you were a motorcycle, because the speeds are getting up there.

“You have to follow all the exact rules of the road. You have to stop. You have to do everything everybody else has to do.”

He also urged e-bike owners to take great care bikes are not stolen.

“If somebody has a bicycle lock on a $5,000 to $6,000 bike, that’s worth their while. And they’re not serialed and VINed the way actual motorized vehicles are. So they’re very difficult to recover,” he said.

Chief Jim Miller of the Zelienople Borough Police Department said e-bikes and other electric vehicles, such as scooters, started gaining traction in the area around a year and a half ago.

“The department actually owns two e-bikes that we use frequently. We haven’t had too many complaints about them here, but Harmony residents have had complaints,” he said.

Miller said the two biggest issues he’s seen in the borough involve people driving electric scooters on public roads and those under the minimum age — 16 years old — riding e-bikes.

He said he learned that Northern Regional Police Department in Allegheny County recently began citing parents and guardians for permitting underage riders.

“I don’t know if parents are just unaware that there is a minimum age. We might need to do more work to inform them if the number of complaints keeps increasing,” he said.

Miller advised all parents to review the PennDOT micromobility fact sheet, which explains the exact specifications and common laws regarding using e-bikes, electric scooters and more.

“Every parent should take some time to read that fact sheet,” he said.

The department also put out a Facebook post in April about e-bikes. It reminded residents state law prohibits e-bikes and pedal bikes on sidewalks in business districts, which in Zelienople is Main Street, the east side of Clay Street and the west side of High Street.

Adams Township has also been facing an uptick in e-bike and e-scooter concerns after township officials said in May e-bike users entered the park and caused damage to Adams Township Community Park’s war memorial and a pavilion.

Since then, township officials said they will be cracking down on proper usage as no motorized vehicles of any kind are allowed on the park trails by township ordinance.

“We’re keeping an eye on it,” Brian Perry, the township’s parks and recreation director, said at a June township meeting. “We’re just keeping an eye on our cameras. We have a ton of cameras pointing in certain directions toward our facilities and we’re making sure that we have better coverage in the park.”

Harrisville Borough Police Department also made a Facebook post on June 12 stating it received another influx of complaints about e-bikes due to “near-misses with pedestrians, high speeds on sidewalks, disregard for traffic signage and minors operating these vehicles.”

The post included a number of common rules around e-bike usage, such as speed limits and highlighted the age restriction regarding them.

“Many of the complaints we receive involve young teens riding e-bikes carelessly, recklessly, dangerously or carrying multiple passengers,” the department’s post read. “If you purchased an e-bike for your child, please ensure they are at least 16 years old, understand the rules of the road and are operating the bike safely.

“Our officers will be actively monitoring these high-traffic areas and issuing warnings or citations where necessary to ensure public safety.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also has its own rules for usage in its state parks, such as Moraine State Park.

According to the state website, e-bikes are permitted where regular bikes are allowed if they weigh no more than 100 pounds, go no faster than 20 mph using a motor, have a motor no bigger than 750 watts and have working pedals.

“Both traditional and e-bikes are permitted on all DCNR-managed trails open to biking, which includes mountain bike trails, rail trails and multiuse trails in state parks and forests. Biking also is permitted on DCNR-managed motorized trails and public use roads unless they are marked as prohibited for bikes,” the department’s biking fact sheet said.

E-bikes are not allowed in natural areas, hiking areas marked with yellow or orange blazes, or on trails or roads marked with “no biking” signs.

The e-bike’s motor cannot be used alone to move the bike on nonmotorized trails.