A Tennessee bill that would give cities and counties more power to crack down on electric bicycles is turning into a hometown showdown in Franklin, where shop owners say their businesses are being dragged into a safety fight they did not start. The proposal would let local officials ban certain classes of e-bikes from parks and greenways and bump up the minimum age for the fastest models. Supporters say it is a targeted response to a run of crashes involving young riders, while shop owners argue the real culprits are unregulated e-motorcycles that are getting lumped in with pedal-assist bikes.
What SB 1782 Would Change
SB 1782 spells out definitions for Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 e-bikes and would allow local governments to prohibit Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on bicycle paths or trails in public parks or greenways, according to the Tennessee General Assembly. The bill would also raise the minimum age to operate a Class 3 e-bike on a roadway from 14 to 16.
The fiscal summary notes that if a city or county adopts such a prohibition, it could submit the ordinance to the Department of Safety, which would be authorized to publish a statewide list of parks and greenways where e-bikes are restricted on its website. On paper, that creates a public map of where riders can and cannot go; in practice, it hands the real decision-making to local councils and commissions.
Local Business Pushback
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, told NewsChannel5 that Franklin officials brought him the measure after what he described as a "growing number of children were injured," and he emphasized that the bill "does not ban e-bikes." From his perspective, it is about giving local government another tool to respond when riders and pedestrians collide on crowded trails.
Pedego Franklin owner Kem Harris told the same outlet that many of the incidents involved e-motorcycles, not the pedal-assist bikes she rents and sells, and warned that the current language blurs that line. "That's our fight — just don't put our bikes with the motos," she said, adding that her rental and tour operation could be "directly impacted" if customers cannot legally ride on the streets needed to reach popular nearby trails.
Where The Bill Stands
SB 1782 has already cleared one big hurdle. The Senate passed the bill as amended in a unanimous floor vote on March 5, 2026, and it was listed as engrossed and ready to be sent to the House after that vote, according to LegiScan. Before it reached the floor, the measure was recommended for passage by the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee on a 7-1 vote.
On the House side, the companion measure is filed as HB 1712. What happens next will depend on whether representatives embrace these local-option limits as written or decide to tweak the approach, possibly by narrowing which devices can be restricted or how those restrictions are carried out.
Legal Implications
The fiscal note points out that state law already lets local governments prohibit e-bikes in designated areas of parks or greenways and concludes that SB 1782 would have a "not significant" fiscal impact even if municipalities send their ordinances to the Department of Safety for publication, according to the Tennessee General Assembly. In other words, the bill fine-tunes a power that technically exists rather than creating an entirely new one.
Any actual bans would still depend on local lawmakers passing ordinances and on city or county agencies enforcing them. That leaves park managers and business owners to hash out the real-world boundaries where rentals, trail use, and safety concerns all meet, with the state mostly setting the framework and stepping back.
As the measure moves to the House, Franklin shop owners say they plan to watch every committee amendment and lobby lawmakers to focus on the faster, motorcycle-style machines instead of the pedal-assist bikes that power their rental fleets. The next few weeks will determine whether cities get broader tools to rein in certain e-bikes on greenways or whether small businesses find themselves squeezed between public safety worries and the region's appetite for outdoor recreation.
