Nassau County Police Are Enforcing an E-Bike Ban That Doesn't Actually Exist - Streetsblog Empire State

"The laws the post cited - Nassau County Misc. Law Title 6 and state Vehicle and Traffic Law Article 34 - don't actually do what the department claims, however. The county law, from 2010, bans illegal all-terrain vehicles and other devices, including 'motorized scooters, off-highway motorcycles and pocket bikes,' which are basically motorcycles."

"The 2020 state law, meanwhile, legalizes e-bikes by establishing a three-class system and allowing villages and towns - not counties - to regulate their use. The law does not empower Nassau or any other county to ban Class II or Class III e-bikes, which differ mainly in top speed up to 25 miles per hour."

"Nassau County, in the process of concocting this ban, is threatening to confiscate some residents' livelihoods and primary methods of travel. There were at least five cases in Nassau County of a car driver hitting an e-bike rider in 2025. In three cases, the motorist killed the e-bike rider."

Nassau County Police issued a March 5 Facebook post claiming state and local laws prohibit Class II and III e-bikes on county roadways, threatening impoundment and $700 fines. However, the cited laws do not support this claim. The 2010 county law targets illegal all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, not legal e-bikes. The 2020 state law establishes a three-class e-bike system and grants regulatory authority only to villages and towns, not counties. This misinterpretation threatens residents' livelihoods and transportation methods. Meanwhile, Nassau County experiences significant road violence, with at least five car-versus-e-bike incidents in 2025, resulting in three fatalities, while pedestrians and cyclists face increasing danger.

Read at Streetsblog