This story is part of Worthington Pulse's coverage of the September 8 City Council meeting. Start with the September 8 meeting recap.
Worthington is closer to having its first dedicated rules for e-bikes, e-scooters, and the growing family of small electric devices on city streets and sidewalks. At the September 8 meeting, City Council worked through the open questions in a draft ordinance: where the devices can go, how fast, who can ride them, and what safety gear is required. Council gave staff enough direction to bring the rules back for a formal introduction this month, with a public hearing and vote expected in October. No vote was taken on the substance of the rules on September 8.
Assistant Law Director Addison Spriggs walked council through the draft, which rewrites the city code chapter covering bicycles and similar vehicles. Much of the discussion, she noted, is about writing local rules on top of state law rather than waiting for the state to catch up. "State of Ohio language is the floor, not the ceiling", Spriggs told council.
What the devices are, and where they can go
The draft creates a new, deliberately broad category called a "personal transportation device," meant to cover scooters, hoverboards, one-wheels, and similar devices, and written flexibly enough to capture devices that don't exist yet. Electric bicycles remain separately defined by their state classifications (Class 1, 2, and 3), and the city is not changing those definitions.
Council coalesced around allowing the devices on sidewalks, with a speed limit and a requirement to slow down near pedestrians and other riders, and keeping them off the city's unpaved paths and trails. On paved shared-use paths, including the Olentangy Trail, the existing 15 mph limit would carry over. On streets, riders would be held to the posted speed limit.
For sidewalks, council landed on an 8 mph limit. Council President Rachael Dorothy said she wanted safety to come first for the city's most vulnerable users but was comfortable in that range: "I would like to have a speed limit of about eight to ten miles per hour on the sidewalk". She also pushed back on lowering speed limits for riders on streets, arguing it would make cyclists less safe, not more.
The draft would also give the city manager authority to post signs restricting device use in specific areas, permanently or temporarily. City Manager Robyn Stewart offered examples: the outdoor dining in front of Old Worthington restaurants, or crowded sidewalks during special events and the farmers market, where the city could require riders to walk their devices.
Minimum ages, helmets, and passengers
Council reached clear agreement on a minimum age of 14 for e-scooters and for Class 2 e-bikes, going beyond state law, which sets no minimum age for either. Class 3 e-bikes, the fastest category, remain restricted to riders 16 and older under state law. Whether to also set an age of 14 for Class 1 e-bikes was left open for more research, with council agreeing to put the 14-year threshold out for public reaction.
The debate over age drew the meeting's most personal exchanges. One council member described watching middle schoolers ride to Kilbourne Middle School and worried a 14-year-old floor would sideline younger riders who use the devices responsibly. Council Member Maria Ramirez pointed to research from the American Academy of Pediatrics and argued that speed and still-developing judgment are a dangerous combination: "these are kids whose brains are developing. The whole ability of assessing risk isn't there yet". Council Member Joy Dong said a friend who is a pediatric resident has operated on children badly hurt in device crashes. Dorothy countered that she wants more kids outside and active, adding that adults in cars cause "a lot more death and destruction than these e-bikes".
On helmets, the draft would require them for all riders under 18. A first-time violation would be a fine rather than a criminal misdemeanor, and could be dismissed entirely if the rider shows proof they bought a helmet. "If they can provide documentation that they have purchased such a helmet, then the citation would be dismissed", Spriggs said; repeat offenses would carry stiffer consequences. Council members floated pairing the rule with free-helmet giveaways, and that a grant used by Westerville could help fund them.
On passengers, council was split but landed on prohibiting minors from carrying passengers, unless a device is designed to carry more than one person and an adult is operating it, the arrangement common on cargo-style family e-bikes. Staff said the concern was distraction and the difficulty of enforcing anything more complicated.
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Enforcement, registration, and the pieces left for later
Because most devices lack speedometers and radar is ineffective at low speeds, several council members and staff acknowledged the speed limit will function mainly as a threshold officers can use when someone is riding unsafely. Spriggs said the draft also includes "a generic catch-all in here for any reckless behavior", such as swerving across streets, that gives officers latitude to stop unsafe riders regardless of exact speed. City legal staff added that a Mayor's Court diversion program, run separately from the ordinance, would let young riders be routed to education rather than county juvenile court.
Two ideas were set aside for now. Council was interested in a required citywide device registration but agreed it would be impractical to enforce, given that riders pass through Worthington on the Olentangy Trail and from neighboring Columbus; staff will instead work to expand the police department's existing voluntary bike-registration program. Impoundment was also deferred, because the lithium batteries in many devices pose a fire and explosion risk that makes storing them in city facilities difficult. Whether parents should face criminal responsibility for a child's violations was left unresolved as well, with staff cautioning it would be hard to prove a parent "knowingly" allowed a violation.
What's next
Council agreed to introduce the ordinance at an upcoming meeting, potentially as soon as September 14, and to hold the public hearing and vote in early October, allowing roughly two weeks for residents to review the draft and weigh in. Dong argued for moving quickly, noting the riding season: "I'd like to move faster than that since it'll be winter". Stewart and Ramirez urged leaving enough time for meaningful public feedback, and staff noted an education-first period would follow adoption before enforcement begins. Council members also said they would ask Worthington Schools to help spread the word, since many student riders attend city schools but live outside city limits.
This is one of 3 Worthington Pulse stories from the September 8 city council meeting recap.