Preventative Measures for Safety’s Sake

Saugus hosts E-Bike Forum at Town Hall as officials explore what the town and state can do to protect the public

By Mark E. Vogler

The second floor auditorium at Saugus Hall was the right place to be a week ago last night (Feb. 5) for parents of school-age children or any citizens who are worried about the dangers of e-bikes and motorized scooters on town streets and sidewalks. Top town and school officials were there along with the state legislative delegation as Saugus hosted an E-Bike Forum. Many of the officials considered the event as a starting point for addressing a major public safety issue that has intensified locally since the tragic death last fall of a 13-year-old Stoneham boy who drove his electric dirt bike into a car.

“From my point of view, in good weather, arrival in the morning and dismissal in the afternoon are scary,” said Saugus Middle-High School Principal Carla Scuzzarella, one of the six members of the panel that spoke at the forum.

“The walkways around the front and sides of the building are full of students, making crashes more likely. This fall we had more than one instance of a student on an e-scooter hitting students whose backs were turned to the oncoming vehicle,” said Scuzzarella, who is also a Precinct 10 Town Meeting member. “Riding in our parking lots can also be dangerous with cars coming and going, especially given that we have some of the newest, least experienced drivers in town trying to navigate around our building. Some students on the electric vehicles race off, cross Pearce Memorial Drive to Highland, all without stopping or looking.”

Joining Scuzzarella on the panel were State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), who highlighted what is being done at the State House to help with the e-bike issues; Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli, who discussed what the Police Department has been doing about the e-bike situation and its future plans of action; Judy Crocker, the Statewide Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program, who talked about safety issues and the need to wear helmets; and Saugus School Committee Chair Tom Whittredge, who offered the closing remarks.

“None of this is going to matter if the message doesn’t get home,” Whittredge told the crowd; he noted that most of the people in the auditorium were town or school officials.

“The real people that need to be here aren’t here,” he said.

Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta, who helped organize the forum and introduced the panelist, said later that she thought many more town residents stayed home to watch the forum live.

“Last fall our board heard many concerns about e-bike safety,” Panetta said in her opening remarks.

“In fact, during Candidates’ Night, residents asked us what steps we planned to take to alleviate this concern. Immediately after the election, the board agreed that an educational forum – not just for students – for all residents would be an important step for our community,” she said.

Panetta noted that the board reached out to the three-member state legislative delegation. “They do share our concern about e-bike and scooter safety,” she said. “Selectmen also contacted the School Department and the School Committee to participate in the forum.”

Panetta said it was clear from the large turnout that Saugus elected officials “are united in their commitment to keep our community safe.” She stressed that the forum was about education and was not intended as an effort to ban e-bikes.

“Our goal is to prevent tragedies like the heartbreaking incident that happened in Stoneham, where a 13-year-old boy lost his life when an electric dirt bike collided into a car at 4:30 in the afternoon last November.

Following the panel presentation, residents in the audience had an opportunity to ask questions or share their concerns and recommendations for addressing the e-bike safety issues.

Alicia Bonito, a pediatric emergency nurse at Mass General Hospital, wasn’t able to attend the forum. But Bonito offered one of the most compelling statements of the night in a letter that she asked her Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member Elizabeth Marchese to read on her behalf. “I am increasingly concerned about the amount of injuries in the pediatric population due to motorized electric bikes,” Bonito said in her statement.

“A leading cause of death for adolescents in America is unintentional injuries. I have witnessed first hand the explosion of accidents including massive head injuries, internal bleeding, traumatic fractures and death. Nearly all these injuries are preventable! I am alarmed that these injuries are happening to younger and younger patients from the age of 11-16 yrs old. Kids this age lack the developmental skills to judge speed and mitigate risk,” she said.

Bonito recommended that state law should be changed to prohibit any person under the age of 16 from riding anything with a motor on shared streets or bike paths. “All too often in my own community I see younger adolescents tandem riding, stunt driving and jetting out into traffic,” she said. “A particular hot spot is on the Belmonte School on off hours from the bike path. In the summer I see kids racing their dirt bikes on the track. Law enforcement should have a zero tolerance for underage riders. I propose fines and calling guardians as a first offense and for a second offense the bike gets impounded.”

She recommended that the town take these steps to improve safety: increase signage, install safety mechanisms on the bike path and have police issue public service announcements.

“We all share responsibility of this problem. I hope you share my sense of urgency before another tragedy occurs,” Bonito said.

During the question and answer period, several people suggested that police take a more aggressive approach by enforcement of existing laws related to the bikes. Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said police do have that option, but their initial response is an educational one. “We do have the ability to seize bikes for 15 days,” the chief said.

“The first act is to take the child home,” he said.

During his speech, the chief stressed that the primary approach would be educating the public through a variety of ways, including social media, community outreach and public service announcements.

“When we see unsafe or illegal behavior – such as excessive speed, reckless operation, riding where motorized vehicles are prohibited, or repeated violations – we will take appropriate enforcement action,” the chief said.

“Our goal is prevention – preventing serious injuries before they occur and tragedies before they happen,” he said.

“E-bike safety is not about saying ‘no’ to new technology. It’s about saying ‘yes’ to responsibility, awareness and respect for one another. The Saugus Police Department will continue to lead with education, support our efforts with fair enforcement, communicate openly and seek out resources that benefit the entire community. But lasting safety comes from partnership – from parents, riders, educators and residents all working together.”

  (Editor’s Note: Please see next week’s Saugus Advocate for additional coverage about the E-Bike Forum. Anyone who wasn’t able to attend the forum or watch it live on Saugus TV can still watch the program in its entirety on their home computer by searching for Town of Saugus E-Bike Forum – Feb. 5, 2026 – YouTube.)