HONOLULU (KHON2) -- A few bills in the Honolulu City Council are taking aim at the more dangerous elements of the e-bike craze that has hit the islands, including wheelies. City Councilmember Matt Weyer has introduced a bill that will make the maneuver illegal on public roads.
"Public safety is always top of mind for so many of us. And more recently, we've been having a lot of calls from the community. We had a conversation with residents and one of the ideas that came up was, just a simple, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-apply bill that would help make us safer. And, also, as we go into the holiday season, allow us to have this conversation about e-bikes," Councilmember Weyer said.
The council will also hear a bill Tuesday that will further regulate e-bikes used on public roads.
"I think one of the issues we have right now is that just as the markets developed for e-bikes, we've seen those that fall outside the classification of e-bikes or bicycles under the law," Councilmember Weyer said. "So it's made it hard for them to enforce. So by providing a broad definition for ebike, also including mopeds, motorcycles, and then just a clear standard. Having a clear standard makes it so much easier. So that way an officer can see what's happening, cite it, and then we're good to go."
This comes as Honolulu continues to deal with issues finding a landfill. Ideas have been floated to export rubbish off island. Weyer has also authored a bill to eliminate plastic bottles at any city facility, city-authorized concession, city-sponsored or city-permitted event, or city program.
"I think it's allowing the city to lead by example, right, as we're encouraging our community to be more sustainable and contemplate moving forward, right, with all these practices. And so when we look at recycling, for example, the recapture for plastic bottles is lower than cans. It's about a third versus a little over a half for cans. And also keeping in mind that all the rubbish we throw away is going into that landfill. And so the more we can reduce that, we can both create a more sustainable future, but also have more efficient practices at the city."