West Des Moines is moving toward a ban on high-speed electric motorcycles and e-scooters from its trails and sidewalks, with city leaders warning that many local parents don't realize what they've bought their kids. The devices, which can hit speeds of 30 to 60 miles per hour, are increasingly showing up on paths meant for pedal bikes and pedestrians, prompting a council debate that has stretched across the summer.
The West Des Moines City Council approved the first reading of the ordinance in September, as reported by Axios. The measure would bar high-speed e-motos and e-scooters from trails and sidewalks while still allowing traditional, lower-speed e-bikes and e-scooters to use those same paths. Under the proposal, parents of riders under 14 could receive a police violation for a first offense, with subsequent violations potentially triggering a municipal infraction that carries no specified dollar amount in the ordinance as written, according to the same report.
City leaders across the Des Moines metro have spent the summer hashing out how to regulate these fast-moving devices, Axios reports, as Iowa has seen a rise in teen accidents involving them. That urgency is backed by local hospital data: medical statistics presented to the council showed Citizen Portal that UnityPoint Health treated 80 e-mobility trauma cases across the metro through May 2026, with children making up half of those patients.
Where the Gray Area Lies
Much of the confusion traces back to how these devices are marketed. Iowa Code § 321.235B sets up a three-class framework for low-speed e-bikes capped at 750 watts, and it exempts Class 1 and Class 2 models from driver's license, registration, or insurance requirements, while Class 3 riders capable of pedal-assisted speeds up to 28 mph must be at least 16, per the statute. But high-powered e-motos — models like Sur-Ron or Talaria capable of 30 to 60 mph — exceed those thresholds entirely and exist in what the Business Record describes as a regulatory gray area, since manufacturers often market them to parents as e-bikes while omitting pedals altogether.
That gap has real consequences on the road. Under state law, vehicles exceeding 750 watts or 28 mph of assistance are classified as mopeds or motorcycles requiring a license, registration, and insurance to operate on public roads — rules that currently go unenforced for many teen riders, per the same analysis. The council's debate reflected that tension directly: Rose Willey-Farver, board president of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, commended the city's extensive workshopping of the ordinance but also recommended that West Des Moines require a driver's license, registration, and insurance for high-speed devices ridden on roads, according to Axios.
City Staff Push Back on Licensing
City staff pushed back on that idea. Doug Loots said staff deliberately left driver's license and registration requirements out of the ordinance, with West Des Moines treating licensing and registration as matters for state regulation rather than municipal code, Axios reports. Russ Trimble added that requiring a local licensing and registration process would effectively ban high-speed devices until the state legislature creates its own registration system, per the same account.
Greg Hudson, meanwhile, struck a more incremental tone, calling the ordinance a positive start and noting it could be amended down the road as the devices and their regulation continue to evolve, the report notes. The ordinance would formally repeal and replace the city's existing municipal bicycle code with a new chapter titled Personal Transportation and Mobility Devices, which the council approved unanimously on its first reading Sept. 21, according to Citizen Portal.
A Regional Pattern Takes Shape
West Des Moines isn't acting alone. Nine metro municipalities — including Ankeny, Waukee, Des Moines, Clive, Grimes, Indianola, Norwalk, and Urbandale — launched a joint Ride Safe 'n Smart campaign in April to promote trail etiquette and speed safety across city lines, according to the City of Ankeny. Neighboring Waukee has already gone further, enacting an ordinance in July that classifies e-motos exceeding 750 watts or 39 mph as mopeds or motorcycles, banning them from sidewalks and trails while limiting street-legal e-scooters to roadways with speed limits of 25 mph or less, per Hola Iowa.
Ankeny adopted its own update in April, Ordinance 2253, imposing a 20 mph speed limit for e-bikes on sidewalks and multi-use trails, banning e-motos from city parks and trails outright, and treating violations as simple misdemeanors, the city says. The consumer demand driving all this regulation is visible on local sales floors too: e-bikes made up 40% of total 2025 sales at Bike World in West Des Moines, making them the shop's single largest product line by dollar volume, according to WE ARE IOWA.
National Numbers Behind the Local Push
The scale of the safety concern extends well beyond Iowa. Emergency department-treated e-bike injuries nationwide reached an estimated 59,200 in 2024, up from 37,600 in 2023 and roughly 751 in 2017, according to federal injury surveillance statistics cited by ElectricBikes.com. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has documented 533 micromobility-related fatalities nationwide from 2017 through 2024, with annual deaths climbing steadily from 5 in 2017 to 135 in 2024.
That surge has reshaped the work of statewide advocacy groups as well. Roughly 80% of all public safety and legal inquiries received by the Iowa Bicycle Coalition since 2025 have pertained to e-bikes and high-speed e-motos, according to the group's Safe Routes to School program, as reported by the Business Record. The West Des Moines City Council is scheduled to take up the ordinance again Monday at City Hall at 5:30 p.m., per Axios.
