The City of Butler announced a zero-tolerance policy on electronic bicycles, otherwise known as e-bikes, effective July 23, due to violent crashes with riders that have left some dead.

It’s not unwarranted for the city to put the policy in place. The streetscape and densely populated neighborhoods in the city put more traffic in the way of people maneuvering through the streets on e-bikes and other electric powered modes of transportation. And many users of these electric vehicles are people who aren’t familiar with the rules of the road — children.

It’s important to have some kind of policy in place/ Hopefully, the threat of having an e-bike or electric scooter confiscated will be enough to prevent people from ignoring traffic laws and zooming around town.

It’s worrying to see people, especially children, going up to 20 mph on little metal contraptions up and down side streets and even major roads. They may be convenient for those who can’t or don’t drive and they will most likely still get people to their destination faster than walking, but riders should stick to a reasonable speed.

People under 16 years old can’t operate an e-bike in Pennsylvania and most people not old enough to drive a motor vehicle don’t understand how to share the road with other drivers yet. If they collide with another vehicle or anything else on the road, in addition to violating the age requirement, it will likely be ruled their fault. Worse, life-altering injuries could occur and they provide an unnecessarily tough lesson to learn.

If you have an electric scooter or bicycle, take time to familiarize yourself with safe riding to spare yourself and others from injury.

— ET