There has been, and is on-going, a mad-rush of localities to “do something” about e-bikes. Queen Creek earlier this year went in an odd direction… despite public info statements from e.g. the mayor, and the Police Department that emphasized they were placing regulations on youth, and e-bikes… they ended up with no age-based restrictions, so any child can legally operate any e-bike including class 3 (assist up to 28mph). And on top of that came up with a blanket speed limit of 15mph for all bicyclists riding in the road in a bike lane.

To begin with, I don’t like local laws for bicyclists that in any way affect bicyclists’ operation in the roadway (includes the bike lane, where existing). We already have state-level rules-of-the-road. Local authority over bicyclists is rooted in the idea that the locality somehow knows better; and either way, they lead to a horrendous (and getting worse) patchwork of disparate rules.

One sort of obvious/glaring omission in Arizona state law are any regulations regarding sidewalk use by bicyclists — this sets up a relatively urgent need for localities to regulate bicycle operations on sidewalks; the growing popularity of electric devices (Class 1, 2, or 3 electric bicycles; electric scooters, and other wheeled devices) adds more considerations. The state of Arizona’s e-bike law of 2018 (covers e-scooters as well) sets up a very basic framework which makes any (in-class) e-bike more-or-less equivalent to a bicycle with the exception that class 3 (assist up to 28mph) banned, by default, from shared use paths. Local control authority, as mentioned above, can override these laws.

We are ending up with a very, very fractured patchwork and it’s only getting worse. Because different cities and towns are taking fairly disparate approaches

Queen Creek’s 15mph speed limit

Ord. 890-26 on 5/20/2026: sets forth a whole bunch of rules and definitions about who can ride what where, and new procedures for impoundment. For my purposes, here I’m most interested in the 15mph speed limit, the new parts, D & E are in bold

11-2-3 Speed Limits

The Town Traffic Engineer or Council will determine and post the appropriate posted speed limit for all street segments based upon the application of accepted engineering standards, practices, and judgment.

A. All local residential streets shall have a prima facie speed limit of 25mph; these types of streets may or may not be posted with a physical sign.

B. Reduced speed limits for school zones (whenever a school fronts onto an arterial street with a posted speed of 45mph or greater) are to be posted either 30mph or 35mph, and are to be in force between the hours of 7:30am to 3:30pm weekdays.

C. Temporary reduced speed limits for construction and maintenance work zones, special events, or any other activity within or adjacent to the right-of way that would require a reduced regulatory speed limit are to be determined at the time of approval of the Traffic Control Plan. All installations of temporary speed limits shall conform to the requirements of the MUTCD handbook and the Arizona Department of Transportation Supplement to the MUTCD.

D. All public sidewalks, parking lots, and multi-use paths shall have a prima facie speed limit of 15 mph whether or not the speed limit is posted by a physical sign. A lower speed limit may be established by posted sign or other lawful regulation.

E. All public bicycle lanes shall have a prima facie speed limit of 15 mph regardless of the posted speed limit applicable to motor vehicles on the adjacent roadway. A lower speed limit may be established by posted sign or other lawful regulation.

I’m wondering what is meant by parking lots; this code apparently (only) applies Town of Queen Creek lots, e.g. stuff owned by the Town like parks, town hall, etc? or any parking lot open to the public?? (see related discussion at where-do-traffic-laws-apply, traffic laws generally don’t apply to private property)

The big news here is this code, because of where it’s situated, Chapter 11 Traffic, applies to ALL road users, not just e-bikes. (It applies to motorists but they are prohibited from using bike lanes, sidewalks, path by other laws, so it’s a no-op in that case).

I don’t think a blanket speed limit is appropriate, some sidewalks or paths are quite narrow. Others are quite wide with good sight lines.

What’s annoying is the town is officially promoting this as an “e-bike” rule, with no mention it applies to all bicyclists (and motorists in parking lots)… here is the Police’s page about the new ordinance, where they’re using the phrase “Motorized Devices” as a shorthand for e-bike, e-scooters, etc.

By FAR the biggest problem with traffic crashes and injuries involves a motor vehicle (a car or truck). [quick stat: in the past 10 years there have been 99 serious injury traffic crashes investigated by QCPD; 9 involved a bicyclist, and 8 involved a pedestrian. Traffic crash stats don’t track this but I am unaware of a bicyclist injuring any pedestrian or motorist]

I have two concerns; I’ll mention in passing with regard to police that this is the sort of code that can be ripe for selective enforcement.

My main concern about a rule limiting bicyclists’ speed in a bike lane is that it can be used against bicyclists who are struck by negligent motorists who (who’s insurance) will then turn around and say you need to prove you weren’t violating this code in order to recover damages; that probably wouldn’t carry the day at a trial, but civil damages cases rarely go to trial and it may be a tactic to induce injured cyclists to accept damages lower than they otherwise might have been.

Closing Thoughts about the Bike Lane provision:

Operating in the road outside of a bike lane are unaffected by this code, and Arizona has no specific requirement to use a bike lane; as you might imagine this is neither well-understood, nor well-accepted.

Statistics on e-bikes safety

One common thread in all the clamoring to add new regulations on e-bikes is that it’s suggested that they pose a safety threat to pedestrians; the higher weight and potentially higher speed are often mentioned. This is not doubt true — but at the same time nobody is producing any local statistics, and the most we get are anecdotes (“I was nearly run over”) and what seem to be isolated incidents, sometimes a half-world away.

For arcane statistical reasons, e-bikes aren’t tracked as motor vehicles, and as a result a crash between an e-bike and a pedestrian are not counted in FARS.

The CPSC issued a report relying on other sources like hospital records to come up with some actual numbers…

Micromobility Products-Related Deaths, Injuries, and Hazard Patterns: 2017–2024, April 2026, James Tark, CPSC

The report lists 13 pedestrian fatalities due to being struck by an e-bike (and an additial 6 as a result of e-scooter).

• • • • 2017: 6,075 deaths
      • 2018: 6,374 deaths
      • 2019: 6,205 deaths
      • 2020: 6,516 deaths
      • 2021: 7,388 deaths
      • 2022: 7,522 deaths (A 40-year historic high)
      • 2023: 7,367 deaths
      • 2024: 7,080 deaths

Footnotes

[1] See powers-of-local-authorities for the ins-and-outs of Arizona law.