Douglas County Bans High-Speed Electric Dirt Bikes

“Kids are doing wheelies on public roadways blocking traffic. They are putting other people in danger and our residents have had enough.”

Sheriff Darren M. Weekly didn’t mince words when he announced the change. The message was clear: the era of unchecked speed on Douglas County’s trails and sidewalks is over.

The county just enacted a new ordinance restricting electric dirt bikes and off-road scooters, targeting the specific vehicles responsible for a recent rash of crashes involving mostly teens. The rule takes effect immediately. Commissioners waived the typical 30-day waiting period, citing public safety urgency.

This isn’t about banning every bike with a motor. Traditional e-bikes with pedals that cap out at 20 mph are still fair game on designated paths. Basic electric scooters you’d grab at Walmart are exempt. The ordinance zeroes in on the high-performance machines: electric dirt bikes that hit 50, 60, or even 70 mph, and “low-powered” electric scooters with up to three wheels, no manual clutch, and motors outputting up to 4,476 watts.

The problem is simple. These machines accelerate from 0 to 50 mph in 3.6 seconds. They operate primarily by throttle, not pedaling. And they are tearing up the landscape.

Commissioner Abe Laydon pointed to a specific tragedy to justify the speed of the vote. In 2024, a 59-year-old man hopped on his 13-year-old’s electric dirt bike. The bike, capable of 60 mph, hit a ravine. The man flew off, split his head open, and died immediately.

“That’s what we want to avoid,” Laydon said. “The startling visual images and videos … where you have kids on dirt bikes that are electric going 50, 60, 70 miles an hour on roadways they should be licensed for.”

The new rules are strict. Operators need a driver’s license and insurance to ride these specific vehicles on roads and sidewalks. Violations carry fines up to $1,000. Parents aren’t off the hook either; if they knowingly allow their children to ride unauthorized bikes, they can face fines.

Laydon sees the ordinance as a direct message to the adults buying the gear. “Don’t buy these high-powered electric dirt bikes,” he said.

For locals in Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock, the change is immediate. You’ll see more licensed riders, and fewer teens doing wheelies on public roadways just to block traffic. Franktown resident Lynne Bussard, a senior citizen who spoke in favor of the measure, noted the community had been watching the chaos unfold.

The county is trying to balance open space access with safety. The ordinance doesn’t ban these vehicles from existence — it just forces them into the regulated world of licensing and insurance. It’s a shift from “free for all” to “prove you can handle it.”

As Weekly put it, the visual of a kid thrown off a high-speed electric bike is hard to ignore. The goal now is to ensure those injuries don’t keep happening. Whether the fines and licensing requirements actually curb the speed remains to be seen, but for now, the message from the commissioners is unanimous.