Fulshear students ask for a 'No Helmet, No Ride' rule; council plans e-bike task force and town hall

A group of students opened Fulshear City Council's Oct. 20 meeting with one message, repeated speaker after speaker: "No helmet, no ride." By the end of the night, council had agreed to form a task force on e-bikes and similar devices, plan a town hall and have a helmet ordinance prepared, possibly for November.

What the students asked for

During public comment, students took turns at the podium asking council to require helmets for riders of e-bikes, e-scooters and bicycles. Several called for an ordinance by name: "No Helmet, No Ride." One urged the city not to stop at fines, but to make helmets easy to get by partnering with local bike shops and businesses, so that riding without one "feels as strange as driving without a seatbelt."

Before the item came up later in the meeting, a council member thanked the students for speaking.

Why it was on the agenda

The item, "Consideration and possible action regarding e-bikes and other similar devices," was placed on the agenda by Council Member Randy Connor and seconded by Council Member Abhijeet Utturkar under Section 3.09(e) of the city charter.

In a statement in the agenda packet, Connor wrote that a few months ago council discussed e-scooters, bicycles and motorcycles, and that the police chief at the time recommended officers handle them "case-by-case." Council agreed then to hold off on further action. Connor asked council to revisit the issue and proposed a task force that reports directly to council.

His statement says the task force would look at:

• current state law
• ways to strengthen local ordinances
• school district policies
• how other cities have handled the issue

Members could include interested residents, law enforcement, city representatives, Lamar CISD and Katy ISD representatives and others the chair recommends.

What council discussed

At the meeting, Connor proposed a study group of about nine people and offered to serve as council's liaison to it. Other council members volunteered to help. One asked that the committee not become "an excuse for indefinite delay" and called for a defined timeline and accountability for delivering recommendations.

Another council member pointed to the city's Youth Advisory Commission, which ran an e-bike safety campaign last year, and suggested a town hall with specific questions for parents and residents to feed into the task force's work. Members talked about holding it in a high school auditorium, where parents and students already gather, and about getting it done before the holidays, when many families buy these devices as gifts.

Not everyone wanted to wait on a task force. One council member said the city was past that point and suggested an outright ban, though he said he supported a town hall. Another said a ban would still leave kids riding and that the focus should be on getting them to ride safely.

Members also raised:

• Legal limits. Council members noted that state law sets many of the rules for e-bikes, e-scooters, golf carts and other motorized devices, and asked for legal advice on what Fulshear can require. They also talked about pressing state lawmakers for changes.
• Enforcement. Questions came up about how officers would tell whether a rider is a minor if a rule is based on age, and police said officers do not want to chase young riders.
• Other ideas. Members floated required lights or reflectors, a one-rider limit, a dusk curfew and a safety course that earns riders a placard for their bike. Council asked members to send ideas to city staff rather than discuss them among themselves.

The police department's traffic officer said Fort Bend County has been developing outreach and training programs for school-age riders, and that the department would bring collision data for council to review.

What council agreed to

No vote was taken on the item. Instead, council reached consensus on three things to happen at the same time:

1. Connor will lead the task force, working with the police department. 2. The city will plan a town hall. 3. An ordinance based on "No Helmet, No Ride" will be prepared, which council said it hopes to see in November.

The city attorney said the task force would not have to follow the Texas Open Meetings Act as long as it only makes recommendations. Council members noted that no more than three of them can attend its meetings. Council asked that the ordinance and the police collision data come back near the start of a future agenda so there is time to discuss them.

What happens next

No date has been set for the town hall, and the task force members haven't been named. Any new rule would still have to be written, put on a council agenda and approved before it takes effect.

The full discussion is in the meeting video: student public comment starts about four minutes in, and the e-bike item runs from about 4:38 to 5:03. The agenda packet and other meeting records are on the city's public meetings portal.