Riders of electric bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles will no longer be able to perform stunts on any public street or roadway if a measure targeting such behavior is able to steer its way through the Honolulu City Council.
Introduced in November, Council Bill 61 is supposedly aimed at curbing wheelies — in which, the measure states, the front wheel of an e-bike, moped or motorcycle is raised so that the vehicle is balanced for a moment on its rear wheel or wheels — while riding in public on Oahu.
The measure would, however, allow such stunts to be performed as part of a parade, tournament or other activity permitted by the city. The anti-wheelies legislation does not include
human-powered, nonmotorized bicycles, city officials say.
Bill 61 — which passed its first reading before the full Council in December — is similar to another Council measure that also promotes greater e-bike regulation in Honolulu.
During its Jan. 29 meeting, the panel voted unanimously to adopt Bill 52, which requires helmets for those who ride e-bikes and seeks to stop unsafe riding practices while operating the machines. The mayor has formally approved Bill 52.
At the Council’s Committee on Planning, Infrastructure and Transportation meeting Wednesday, Vice Chair Matt Weyer — who co-sponsored Bill 61 with Radiant Cordero — offered verbal amendments to the latest measure.
In part, Weyer requested to incorporate data gleaned from the state Department of Health “that relates to increased accidents and impacts from electric bicycles” and was information originally presented in Bill 52.
DOH asserts the average number of reported e-bike incidents statewide more than doubled to an average of 24 per month in 2024 from 10 per month in 2022.
Oahu experienced a nearly threefold increase, from an average of 19 per month in 2024 to seven per month in 2022, the data
indicates.
Oahu also accounted for 75% of the statewide e-bike incidents, with most of the injured patients — 65% — transported by city Emergency Medical Services ambulances to local hospitals, according to DOH.
Helmet use among e-bike riders has steadily declined, too, during the study period, to 29% in 2024 from 51% in 2022, the data shows.
Helmeted riders were older, on average, and experienced fewer traumatic brain injuries than unhelmeted riders — 13% versus 32%, DOH data indicates. Additionally, unhelmeted riders were more likely to require hospitalization, with head injuries being most common among this group.
The financial impact of e-bike-related injuries is significant, too, with average medical costs reaching $16,162 for emergency department visits and $121,445 for hospitalizations, according to DOH. Hospitalized
patients often required extended care, including discharge to skilled nursing or rehabilitation facilities.
Under Hawaii law, all kids under age 16 must wear a helmet while riding a bicycle. A person must be at least 15 years old to ride a “low-speed electric bicycle” registered to an adult household member.
At the meeting, city Transportation Director-designate Roger Morton told the
committee his agency is “strongly in favor of pedestrian safety.”
To that end he asserted existing state law offers “a section that allowed counties to have temporary regulations for emergency or special conditions” related to the growing number of
injurious or fatal incidents involving e-bikes.
“We think that the proliferation of these bikes does constitute a special situation, so there’s some relief in that area, too,” Morton said.
He also alluded to state lawmakers still trying to forge legislation to deal with the issue.
“I would also say that there are something like 10 bills in the Legislature right now that are discussing definitions or regulations of e-bikes in one form or another,” he added. “We welcome those state efforts as well, and we’re going to monitor those state efforts as we go forward.”
Later, Council member
Tyler Dos Santos-Tam asked Morton to clarify whether Bill 61 would prohibit wheelies only on e-bikes, mopeds or motorcycles rather than on “traditional bicycles.”
“In your experience … the really problematic behavior is with these motorized devices, right?” Dos Santos-
Tam asked. “Kids aren’t cracking their heads open on traditional bikes doing wheelies.”
Morton replied, “The proliferation of these motorized devices have created unsafe behaviors on the street, and that’s certainly been the department’s direction: to target the motorized versions of the bicycles.”
“On a public street there’s really no purpose to do a wheelie, even on a bicycle,” he added. “Kids can be kids in parks, but our focus has been on the motorized versions of these (bikes), where we think that there is a special problem.”
During public testimony, Kaneohe resident Donald Sakamoto said he supported the anti-wheelies measure. It’s “very dangerous with these kinds of vehicles, especially for the blind and disabled,” he added.
Council member Andria Tupola also questioned a city attorney over the “caveat” Morton alluded to in state law that allows the City Council “to propose regulation of mopeds and motorcycles if there’s an emergency.”
In response, city Deputy Corporation Counsel Brian Ancheta said Hawaii Revised Statute 291C-163 A 22 — also known as the Statewide Traffic Code — “shall not be deemed to prevent counties, with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction, from adopting and enforcing temporary or experimental regulations that may be necessary to cover emergencies for special
conditions.”
Bill 61 as amended could be used “to show to any
reasonable leader that (the city) has issues with regards to wheelies from” e-bikes, mopeds and motorcycles, he said.
Tupola also wanted to know whether the city’s definition of a moped and a motorcycle matched the language found in state laws.
Ancheta confirmed the city and state definitions of those powered vehicles “had no conflict.”
Under further Council questioning, Morton claimed the city could look to see whether individual counties in Hawaii have additional regulations that could be “more stringent” when it comes to e-bike,
moped and motorcycle
violations.
“We’ll research that at the department level,” he said, adding that DTS will track the current flurry of state-level legislation on e-bikes. “We’ll research what the many bills do and try to figure out which ones are going to be supported by the majority at the Legislature and which ones are probably just piled and being filed.”
As the planning panel’s chair, Cordero successfully recommended Weyer’s committee draft of Bill 61 be passed on to the full Council for possible second reading review and adoption.
The Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 26.
