New Jersey's roads are buzzing—literally. Electric bikes and scooters are zipping through neighborhoods, carving a path toward a greener, more convenient future. A favorite among food delivery drivers and short-distance commuters and errand-runners, "e-bikes" and "e-scooters" are changing how New Jersey pedestrians, cyclists and drivers share the road. These "micromobility" vehicles, however, are not without their risks. According to a recent University of California San Francisco study, e-bike injuries across the U.S. increased from 751 in 2017 to 23,493 in 2022, and e-scooter injuries rose from 8,566 to 56,847 over that timeframe.

The rapid rise of these vehicles has, to date, outpaced the development of a full regulatory regime in New Jersey. But that appears to be changing. Thanks to recently proposed legislation covering e-bikes and e-scooters, along with a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision regarding personal injury protection (PIP) coverage for e-scooter riders, a fuller regulatory framework is on the horizon.

Current Regulation of E-Bikes and E-Scooters

Today, N.J.S.A. 39:4-14.16 provides the lion's share of regulations concerning "low-speed" e-bikes and e-scooters. Per N.J.S.A. 39:1-1, "low-speed" e-bikes are bicycles with electric motors that do not provide assistance when the bikes reach a speed of 20 miles per hour. "Low-speed" e-scooters are ones with electric motors "capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion at a maximum speed of less than 19 miles per hour."