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MONCKS CORNER — Town Council passed a new ordinance regulating the use of electric bicycles and scooters within town limits, with the rules going into effect immediately.
The ordinance, approved July 21, has similar provisions to the one approved by Goose Creek’s city council in March. Moncks Corner’s rules ban e-bikes from regular sidewalks but allow them on wider shared-use paths and “hiker-biker” style trails around town.
E-scooters and “other similar devices” are allowed on sidewalks — where they must yield to pedestrians — but barred from roads with speeds faster than 30 mph. The rules also forbid more people riding an e-scooter than the device is designed to carry.
Both e-bikes and e-scooters are restricted to traveling at speeds of 25 mph or less, with e-bikes traveling at higher speeds being classified as mopeds and subject to the rules governing them.
Riders on e-bikes are expected to follow the same rules of the road as other vehicular traffic, and anyone under the age of 16 riding an e-bike must wear helmet. All e-bikes must be equipped with a brake that allows the operator to skid on dry, level, clean pavement, along with front and rear lamps for nighttime usage.
Council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance, though not without some discussion. Councilman Bryan Ware expressed concern about older residents riding down Main Street having to dodge parked cars and traffic in the roadway since the bikes aren’t allowed on sidewalks.
Mayor Tom Hamilton said the ordinance would give the police department “some kind of bite” to keep people safe, citing instances he has seen of unsafe ridership.
“I got a little feedback from the public about, you know, trying to take the fun away from the kids. We're not trying to take the fun away, but we've seen them zigzagging from sidewalk to road, just shooting out in front of people,” he said. “We’ve seen them (doing) wheelies down the sidewalk. And imagine someone walking out from a blind spot and getting hit by one of those.”
Moncks Corner is the latest municipality in the tri-county area to adopt such rules. In addition to Goose Creek, the city of Charleston also considered a set of regulations earlier this year. In 2023, Mount Pleasant put rules on electric bikes and scooters after a reported accident involving minors riding e-bikes hitting and killing a dog on a sidewalk, with the town updating them again last year.
