PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Pierce Township Police Department is reminding residents how Ohio law classifies electric bicycles and when they can be ridden on sidewalks, citing a rise in e-bike use around the community.
The department posted a flyer on Facebook this week breaking down the state’s three e-bike classes and answering what it called a common question: whether e-bikes can be ridden on sidewalks.
“The answer is only if the motor is disengaged and the operator is only pedaling the bike,” the department said in the post.
That guidance tracks Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.711, which allows bicycles and electric bicycles on sidewalks only when the motor is not engaged, unless the rider is a law enforcement officer using an e-bike in the line of duty. The statute also bars local governments from requiring bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks, though it leaves other local regulation in place.
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.522, an electric bicycle must have fully operable pedals and a motor under 750 watts to qualify for one of three classes. A Class 1 e-bike provides pedal-assist power only while the rider is pedaling and cuts off at 20 mph. A Class 2 e-bike can be throttle-operated without pedaling but also stops assisting at 20 mph. A Class 3 e-bike provides pedal-assist power up to 28 mph and must be equipped with a speedometer.
State law sets additional rules for the fastest class: no one under 16 may operate a Class 3 e-bike, and every rider and passenger on one must wear a protective helmet meeting U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, regardless of age. Violations of the e-bike statute are strict-liability traffic offenses, with penalties that escalate for repeat offenders.
Manufacturers are required to permanently label each e-bike with its class, top assisted speed and motor wattage, and that label must be updated if the bike’s top speed is modified — a point the department’s flyer also flagged, warning riders not to assume a lower-speed setting changes a bike’s legal classification.
Pierce Township’s police department traces back to a single full-time constable in the 1950s and has grown into a round-the-clock agency covering the township’s 23 square miles, including the area of the former village of Amelia since it merged into the township in 2019. Col. Paul Broxterman, a 33-year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department, has led the department as chief since February 2022.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pierce Township Police Department.