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A couple riding e-bikes yield for oncoming traffic before turning from East Market Street onto North Vine Street in Celina.
CELINA - Befitting its status as a lakeside tourism destination, Celina has drawn attention for the ubiquitous golf carts puttering up and down its streets, a bourgeoning custom that some say lends the city a leisurely charm.
The popularity of golf carts has continued to climb in Celina since a multi-use vehicle ordinance took effect in August 2017, with Celina Police Chief Tom Wale recently issuing the 360th permit.
City officials embrace the widespread use of golf carts on roads with speed limits up to 35 mph, a practice that bolsters Celina's reputation as a resort town.
However, they have deep concerns about the equally prevalent, yet illegal and highly dangerous use of other alternative means of transportation - e-dirt bikes, e-skateboards and e-scooters on city streets and sidewalks.
The e-bikes are legal on city streets, but riders of Class Three models capable of reaching speeds of nearly 30 mph must be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet.
When it comes to the ongoing "blatant violations," Wale isn't playing around, warning of a coming crackdown on the illegal e's.
"My big concern is that it's a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt or killed. I mean, we've already had a serious injury, almost a death in town, and we did have a death in the county last year," Wale told The Daily Standard in regard to separate e-bike and e-skateboard accidents in 2024.
Wale has instructed officers to eschew warnings and instead slap violators with a citation. There's just been too many complaints about the electronic vehicles, not to mention the innumerable violations Wale's witnessed himself, he said when asked about ramping up enforcement.
"It's a tragedy waiting to happen," he said, sighing in exasperation. "I really don't understand the parents that think it's safe to be doing this on the road."
Over the weekend at Celina Lake Festival, city council president Jason King said he heard many out-of-owners, family members and friends marveling about the oodles of golf carts cruising around town.
"This is a destination town, and there are a lot more (golf carts)," King said at this week's regular council meeting. "I mean, I'm guessing double from last year, it's seems like anyway, but I think it's kind of neat, and it certainly sets us apart from other communities."
Mayor Jeff Hazel agreed with King's statement, before Wale pointed out that he had just recently issued his 360th multi-use vehicle permit. A bulk of the permit-holders live within the city, he noted.
Over the last eight years, golf carts on city streets, for the most part, haven't been a problem, Wale told the newspaper.
"The people overall, especially the ones who own the golf carts, they really enjoy them," he said, adding that they use the vehicles to make short trips to the grocery store, the park, the school to pick up kids and other places. "I even suggest to people, if you're going to festivals, that's a great thing to drive because it's easier to find a parking space."
The city's multi-use vehicle policy was crafted in accordance with Ohio Revised Code. Multi-use vehicles must pass a police inspection and have a permit before taking to city streets.
Those seeking a permit must present a valid Ohio driver's license and proof of insurance. All multi-use vehicles must be legally registered with Ohio license plates and have working brakes, brake and taillights, a horn, a steering mechanism, a windshield, a rearview mirror, safe-condition tires, front and back turning signals, a white license plate light, and front and back seatbelts.
"They're required to have seat belts for all passengers, and we do expect the people to seat -belt their children in, not hold the babies while driving down the road, those sorts of things," Wale said. "Probably the biggest violation … I've gotten complaints about would be people allowing their unlicensed children to drive them."
The practice is illegal, Wale stressed.
"They're back in their neighborhood thinking it's OK and the kid drives them. That is not legal. Mom and Dad can in fact be cited for allowing an unlicensed operator drive a vehicle, just as if they let them drive a car," he said.
Offhand, Wale couldn't think of any golf cart-involved accidents or any golf-cart driver having been citied with operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but pointed to an incident where an intoxicated passenger fell off a golf cart.
However, another type of violation committed by golf-cart operators is driving on wide sidewalks, especially in the Havemann Road area.
"Those are for walkways and bicycles only," he said.
When the policy took effect nearly a decade ago, golf carts and similar vehicles were permitted on city streets with a speed limit of no more than 25 mph. Soon afterward, council amended the ordinance to permit usage on streets up to 35 mph, enabling residents to travel to restaurants and other businesses without breaking the law.
"I strongly urge people when they get their permit, if they are on a higher speed road and they see they're holding traffic up, the courteous thing for them to do would be to go ahead and get out of the way and let traffic go by," Wale said. "It's safer for them. I mean, the golf cart, most of them were not designed to be driven on the road in the first place. So they really need to think about road safety and their passenger safety when they're driving in congested traffic."
In addition to the surge in golf carts in Celina, there are many more e-bikes out and about, councilman Matt Gray noted this week.
"We've had the discussion within the department recently," Wale said. "The e-bikes and other related type of vehicles, there's a large increase in those and the blatant violations that are going on."
Ohio Department of Transportation classifies e-bikes into three groups based on the level of electric assistance and maximum speed. Although e-bikes are often viewed as a more easily accessible version of a moped, ODOT states "e-bikes should not be confused with motorized bicycles or mopeds, although they are both vehicles under Ohio law."
Ohio Revised Code permits certain classes of e-bikes to be ridden on sidewalks, but Celina law holds that it is "not properly legal" to ride an e-bike on the sidewalks out of respect for pedestrian safety.
"All bicycles, electric and otherwise, are required to obey all the laws of the road, so that would include stopping at stop signs, which is probably the single biggest violation I see," Wale remarked,
Many fail to stop "without regard and a lot of times not even looking."
"And you see the same thing on all these electric toys," he added. "The kids don't really have a good handle on just how dangerous it is."
A Celina teen using an e-skateboard was struck by a car and airlifted to a Dayton area hospital with life-threatening injuries in May 2024. The teen was riding an electric skateboard westbound on Myers Road, approaching Queensbury Drive, just before 2 a.m., according to a Celina Police Department news release.
The teen was reportedly wearing dark clothing and "was not easily visible during hours of darkness," when he was struck by a motorist.
In Celina, e-dirt bikes, e-skateboards and e-scooters are not permitted on any city street or sidewalks. The only lawful place to use the vehicles is on private property.
Following the e-skateboard accident last year, the Celina Police Department issued a statement on social media.
"Celina officers have been issuing warnings for the past several months to individuals riding these on the streets," the release states. "Officers will now begin issuing citations to offenders and possibly even taking the skateboards and/or scooters as evidence until they are released through the court process."
