You couldn’t make up a more fitting anecdote for the opening of this story if you tried.

It couldn’t have been 10 minutes after this author posted up with a camera trying to grab some photos of people enjoying the bike path near Watchemoket Cove — a particularly scenic stretch of the East Bay Bike Path, located in Riverside off Veterans Memorial Parkway — that I heard the far-off sound of sputtering engines coming from far down the path in the direction of Kettle Point.

That was notable, and odd, considering fully motorized vehicles are not allowed on the bike path.

Yet here they rode. Two young men, perched atop what appeared to be miniature dirt bikes. They were respectful enough, riding on the correct (right) side of the road, in a single-file line, and they weren’t going too fast or revving their little illicit engines obnoxiously.

But it was hard to not notice the irony as they crested the hill and chugged past one of the newly-installed signs that you can now see up and down bike paths throughout the state — the ones that clearly inform riders that “CLASS 1 E-BIKES ONLY” belong on the bike path.

New signs, but not a new law

The signs popped up last month, one full year after the legislation that led to their posting was passed by both the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Senate, signed into law by Governor Dan McKee, and went into effect in July of 2024.

East Providence and Barrington Representative Jennifer Boylan (D-Dist. 66) was the instigator of that piece of legislation, 2024-H 7713A, which defined three classes of electric bikes (e-bikes) and declared that only the first class — bikes that utilize an electric motor only to assist a rider while pedaling, and only up to 20 miles per hour — would be allowed on the bike path going forward.

Any e-bike that utilized a throttle instead of needing to be pedaled, or allowed electrical pedaling assistance beyond 20 miles per hour, would now be verboten.

Proponents of the bill, which also mandated e-bike users under 21 years of age wear helmets while on the bike path, said that it was a common sense piece of legislation that at least began to address some common safety concerns of people who frequented the bike paths in the state.

“I see the e-bike bill that we passed as a great compromise bill,” Rep. Boylan said in a recent interview. “Because it addresses the needs of people who want to continue to ride e-bikes, just the Class 1’s, the slowest on the bike path, and balances that with families that want to walk with their three-year-old on a tricycle on the bike path, and don’t want to be run over.”

“It’s a tricky thing you have to balance.”

According to East Providence native and resident Adam Anderson, Manager of Trek East Providence on Warren Avenue (formerly East Providence Cycle, which Anderson’s family owned since the 70s), the impetus for barring the faster bikes was, at least, understandable.

“It’s been a hassle for the past, I’d say five years, with people complaining about the e-bikes and how out of control some them can be,” he said. “So I think it’s a good thing that they have that signage there, because it’s never been policed or even really talked about too much in the past few years.”

But can it be enforced?

Getting a clear answer on who actually is responsible for enforcing laws on the bike path is a bit like trying to untangle a pair of headphones that got stuck in the spokes of a bike tire.

Just ask the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), the state agency charged with overseeing bike paths throughout the state.

“DEM works collaboratively with state and local law enforcement partners to educate and ensure the safety of all bike path users,” a spokesperson for DEM said when asked who enforces laws on the bike path. “State bike paths share concurrent law enforcement jurisdiction with Rhode Island State Police and municipal law enforcement agencies where path sections are located, with DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement as the primary enforcement agency. Anyone observing violations on state bike paths can contact our 24/7 dispatch at 401-222-3070.”

While this might sound like an all-encompassing answer, it leaves plenty of gray area in terms of actual, on the ground enforcement for violations that occur.

For one, cyclists who frequent bike path agree that there does not appear to be regular presence of police or other rule-enforcers on the path.

“If someone is on there with a 40 mile-per-hour bike, are they going to be stopped by a cop? There are no cops on the bike path,” said Anderson, of Trek East Providence. “So, I don’t know if putting up a bunch of signs will do much.”

“You know how many times I’ve seen a police officer on the bike path in the 16 years I’ve been riding on it? Maybe once,” said Chris Menton, a certified bicycle instructor and board member for the Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition. “And that’s not right. If you want to get people to ride bikes, you’re going to have to put some order down on those places.”

Detective Lieutenant Kurt Hawes of the East Providence Police Department said that the department does not have a formal schedule or structure for patrolling the bike path, but it does have officers on bicycles and a utility vehicle that can access the path to respond to incidents that occur on it.

“Essentially if we respond to the bike path for a call, we can exercise our police authority if needed,” he said. “That being said, we do patrol the bike path often…If there are any issues with the path that don't need immediate attention we will contact our partners at the DEM. We have worked well with them in the past and enjoy a continual good working relationship.”

Hawes said the department has to utilize its resources strategically in the places where they are needed the most.

“Ideally we would drive on every street and the length of the bike path every shift. However, it makes much more sense for us to try and focus on areas where we have continual calls for service,” he said. “I would say we certainly go out on different parts of the bike path daily. Sometimes it may be a Riverside car swinging through, sometimes it may be community policing, we might have bike patrol taking a ride through, or someone from the center of the city might take a drive down to Squantum.”

But regardless of whether there is a tangible police presence often enough to make a difference, one major issue remains.

The law itself does not actually dictate a fine or other punishment for anyone who hypothetically gets caught (by local law enforcement, DEM’s law enforcement division, state police, or a citizen vigilante) riding a Class 2 or Class 3 e-bike on the path.

“Enforcement has to be drafted into law, or drafted into an ordinance if it's at the municipal level,” Rep. Boylan said when asked about the law not having any actual means written into it to enforce it. At this time, she agreed that such a mechanism was not in the current iteration of the bill.

A scapegoat that unfairly targets some?

Even if it could be enforced, not everybody in the cycling world is in agreement that the law was necessary, or targeted the right causes of potential danger on the bike path that led to its passage in the first place.

“A friend of mine called me, and he's 83 years old. He has a Class 2 e-bike…and he needs it to start up at the stop signs,” said Menton. “Why would you want to inhibit people's ability to use the resources that we have? Particularly people who are senior citizens and disabled people?”

Menton said that the law unnecessarily targets Class 2 bikes, which often go to the same maximum speed as Class 1 bikes. Although they utilize a throttle, Menton said that those riding Class 2 e-bikes, many of which are senior citizens and people with disabilities, have the sense not to exceed a speed that feels safe for them to travel.

“When we bike with a group of people, nobody goes over 20 miles per hour,” he said. “Downhill, I guess you could, but we’re adults. We don’t want to go to the hospital. So we travel at a proper speed.”

Menton said that a cyclist trying to go as fast as possible on a traditional bike can go much faster than 20 miles per hour, which is often more dangerous than an older person relying on an electric throttle to enjoy the path at a reasonable pace.

“That's the distinction they're making. Throttles are bad, pedal assist is good. The reality of it is that Class 1’s and Class 2’s both have the same maximum speed. And in both of those cases, most people don’t do the maximum speed,” he said. “The real issue is the people who think they’re in the Tour de France. Or they have these out of classification bikes, which are 1,100 watts and can go 40 miles per hour.”

Menton said that a more reasonable approach would be to try and enforce speed limits in areas where the most accidents occur, or where they are most likely to occur.

“You can have safer roads by lowering the velocity,” he said. “What you need is camera enforcement designed through data analysis. Where are the unsafe spots? Lower the velocity there.”

Education and awareness needed

Something that everyone seems to agree on is the need for more education and awareness of rules and proper etiquette while riding or enjoying the path as a pedestrian.

“I see at this point a tremendous need to educate people who use the bike path,” Rep. Boylan said. “The parents of children and families in these communities need to become more aware of the current law as well as safety best practices.”

“I think people not paying attention is the most annoying thing to deal with,” added Anderson. “But there’s plenty of signage around the bike path telling you which way to go and what side to walk on.”

Lieutenant Hawes referenced community policing efforts that the department undertakes on the bike path, particularly during the summer months, to chat with people and hand out water on particularly hot days. Such encounters can also become opportunities to chat about bike safety and spread awareness.

It’s the kind of public service Menton would like to see more of, and believes would make a real difference.

“You need to have a kind of game plan. What do you want to do? Do you want the cops to ticket people? That's not going to work,” he said. “What you want to do is educate people.”