Parker police launch online reporting tool for illegal e-bike complaints

Parker residents now have a new way to flag illegal riding on the town’s trails, parks and neighborhood streets, as police try to curb complaints about high-powered e-bikes, dirt bikes and e-motorcycles that officers say are damaging public spaces and putting people at risk.

The Parker Police Department rolled out the online “E-Bike, Dirt Bike, & E-Motorcycle Safety Reporting” tool on May 5, giving residents a place to submit the location, time and nature of unsafe or unlawful activity, along with a description of the rider and behavior. Police say that detail matters because the problem is not all e-bikes, but the higher-powered vehicles and reckless riding that keep showing up in the same places.

Officers have drawn a clear line between what is allowed and what is not. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are generally permitted on trails, while Class 3 e-bikes are not allowed on sidewalks, trails or parks. Electric motorcycles and e-dirt bikes are prohibited on public property. Police also reminded riders that anyone younger than 18 must wear a helmet, and that the speed limit on Parker roads is 15 mph.

The enforcement push reflects a larger concern about who is riding these vehicles and what happens when something goes wrong. Police say many of the riders are teenagers, and many are unlicensed and uninsured. Officials say the result has been harm to the riders themselves and to others, along with damage to parks, trails and private property across Parker.

Colorado law gives local governments room to draw their own lines. State rules generally allow Class 1 and Class 2 electric bicycles on bicycle and pedestrian paths unless a local jurisdiction restricts them, while Class 3 e-bikes may not use those paths unless the path is within a street or highway or the local government permits it. State law also allows a local authority to prohibit Class 1 or Class 2 e-bikes on paths under its jurisdiction. Colorado transportation guidance says sellers must clearly disclose a bike’s classification, motor wattage and top speed at the point of sale.

Parker is extending a familiar model of resident input to this complaint category. The town already uses a traffic mapping tool and an online citizen police reporting system, and its planning documents include a Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan. The new reporting form turns that infrastructure toward a growing front in Douglas County and across the Front Range, where agencies have been responding to dangerous incidents involving teenagers on vehicles that can qualify as motorcycles.

Similar pressure has surfaced in nearby communities. Lone Tree police have sought help identifying teens riding e-motorcycles and e-dirt bikes in the Park Meadows area, and Aurora police have used traffic cameras in a case involving a group of riders on e-bikes they said were not street legal. In Parker, the test is now whether a more precise reporting tool leads to faster enforcement, fewer repeat problems and safer public spaces.