The city of Warrenton is reviewing its ordinances to potentially make them less restrictive of electric bicycles following a recent citizen complaint.

Sean Fitzsimmons spoke at the Sept. 15 Warrenton Board of Aldermen meeting, where he told city officials that recent tickets he received related to riding his e-bike violated state law. He asked them to loosen the city’s regulations of the vehicles.

“I would like to bring your attention to the urgent legislative contradiction within Warrenton’s municipal code and our current local traffic ordinances that are penalizing law-abiding citizens for conduct that’s explicitly protected and deregulated under Missouri state law,” he said.

Fitzsimmons recently received five separate municipal citations relating to his riding a 750-watt Himiway Escape Pro e-bike, he said.

“Under the city’s outdated motorized bicycle framework, my property was initially impounded under motor vehicle pretenses,” he added.

Warrenton city code “relies on decades-old definitions” that group e-bikes in the same category as gas-powered mopeds, requiring operators to have a valid driver’s license, registration and insurance, Fitzsimmons said.

“However, in 2021, the Missouri Legislature passed sweeping updates specifically to protect micro-mobility users, separating electric bicycles completely from motor vehicles,” he added.

Later the same day he was ticketed, Fitzsimmons said, police returned his e-bike, and the citation he was originally pulled over for, a helmet requirement violation, was later dropped.

Other tickets he received included citations for driving while suspended or revoked, failure to maintain financial responsibility, and failure to register a motor vehicle, he said.

Fitzsimmons argued that even under the current code, the tickets he received were invalid, but that this was even more definitively true given the 2021 changes to state law.

“The state mandate explicitly states that e-bikes and their operators are not subject to vehicle registration, vehicle title, driver’s license, or financial responsibility,” he said. “It’s impossible to register an e-bike. There’s no title. The DMV laughs at you.”

Fitzsimmons said he wanted to formally request dismissal of the citations issued to him.

“It is legally impossible to obtain standard automotive liability insurance for a traditional bicycle or e-bike. Because an e-bike is not a motor vehicle, carrying auto insurance is completely inapplicable,” he said.

“The Missouri Department of Revenue, DOR, does not issue titles, license plates, or registration stickers for compliant electrical bicycles. The vehicle cannot be registered, making a registration citation a legal paradox,” he said.

There are three criteria to qualify as a Class 2 electric bicycle, Fitzsimmons said, which are that the vehicle features a factory-integrated throttle, is pedal-assisted, and includes a mechanism that ceases to provide motor propulsion once the bike reaches 20 miles an hour. His bike meets all these criteria, he said.

Despite requesting changes to city ordinances and the dismissal of his tickets, Fitzsimmons acknowledged that the city does have some authority to regulate e-bikes.

“While state law broadly permits e-bikes where traditional bicycles can go, local municipalities, parks, and governing agencies retain the right to restrict or prohibit e-bikes on specific paths, natural surface trails and sidewalks within their jurisdiction,” he said.

In response to Fitzsimmons’ concerns, Mayor Eric Schleuter said the city attorney would review the city’s ordinances to possibly make changes relating to e-bikes, and would look into potentially dismissing Fitzsimmons’ citations. Alderman Larry Corder also said he favored having the city review its ordinances regulating e-bikes.

In response to a question from Alderman Roger Romaker, Fitzsimmons said his case has not been adjudicated yet, with his next court date scheduled in November. He added that another issue he has had is that the tickets he received are illegible.

“Since that day, I’ve been requesting legible citations with ordinance numbers so I can research them and prepare my defense,” he said.

“I would like to be able to obey the law. If there’s anything that I’m wrong about, I want to be able to get it so that I can comply. I want to go about my business unencumbered and not have this happen again,” Fitzsimmons added.

Schleuter said that not only in Warrenton, but statewide, keeping local ordinances up to date and aligned with ever-changing Missouri statutes can be a challenge.

“I think a lot of people are having issues with trying to keep with what the state statute has changed to, to what things are,” he said.

Fitzsimmons said he agreed, adding that he believed the officers who ticketed him were acting in good faith.

“There’s so many laws, so many municipal codes, nobody can know them all,” he said.

Despite some encouraging comments from city officials, Fitzsimmons could still face at least one obstacle to having his tickets dismissed. 

Besides the throttle, pedal assistance, and 20 mph maximum speed, RSMo Section 301.010 also defines an e-bike as having “an electric motor of less than 750 watts,” which would put Fitzsimmons’ bike just over the legal limit because it is not below the cutoff, Alderman Josh Chandler pointed out.

“From what I read in state law — which, there may be some other area that’s contradicting — but from what I read, it said, under 750 is for an e-bike,” Chandler told the Record after the meeting. “If this bike is 750, then it would not technically classify as an e-bike, but again, that’s not my decision to make, that’s just how I’m understanding what I read.”