Douglas County sheriff warns on electric dirt bikes, pushes tougher rules

Douglas County sheriff’s officials sharpened their case for tougher off-highway vehicle rules as they prepared to move the proposal into a second reading, warning that electric dirt bikes are showing up in ways they say are illegal, dangerous and increasingly common across the county. The message was aimed as much at parents as riders: deputies said the line between a legal e-bike and an electric dirt bike matters on bike paths, trails and roadways, where the wrong machine can quickly become an enforcement issue.

Undersheriff Jason Kennedy drew that distinction at a June 10 press conference. Standard e-bikes, he said, have pedals that function and are generally allowed on bike paths and trails. Electric dirt bikes are different: they run on a throttle, do not have functional pedals and can reach highway speeds. Kennedy said some of the seized vehicles can hit 75 miles per hour and go from 0 to 50 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds, numbers that put them far outside the expectations most families have when they buy a two-wheeled machine for a child.

The sheriff’s office said it has encountered riders as young as 6, with the average age in a recent enforcement action between 12 and 14. Officials tied that reality to a broader safety concern, saying children are navigating roadways on machines that are not designed, or legal, for the same uses as conventional bikes. Douglas County recorded two fatalities on off-highway vehicles last year, a figure that officials said turned the debate from policy theory into a direct public safety issue for local families.

A doctor from the emergency department at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree also underscored the injury risk, saying these vehicles cause thousands of injuries nationwide and can produce harder impacts because they are heavier, bulkier and faster. County leaders said they want public feedback as the ordinance advances, and they pointed to a bike safety clinic planned for June 13 at Chaparral High School as part of a broader effort to educate riders while tightening enforcement.