Training for Safer Streets
Educating Law Enforcement Officers on NYS Vehicle & Traffic Law and Active Transportation Safety
Did you know NYBC instructors offer training to Law Enforcement agencies?
At NYBC, we believe safer streets start with a shared understanding between people driving, people biking, and the law enforcement officers who help keep our communities safe. As e-bikes, e-scooters, and other active transportation devices become more common across New York, many departments have expressed a need for clearer guidance on the laws, safety practices, and real-world challenges these devices bring to their communities. That’s why NYBC’s law enforcement training program is designed to strengthen officers’ knowledge of the NYS Vehicle & Traffic Law and equip them with practical tools for safe, effective, community-centered enforcement. By supporting officers with the information they need, we help create streets where every New Yorker regardless of how they travel can feel confident and protected. NYBC’s law enforcement training programs are funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with a grant from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
“This was one of the best-organized trainings I’ve attended. The instructor was knowledgeable and engaging, and I left with information I can use immediately.”
— Law Enforcement Participant, 2025 Training
NYBC’s Active Transportation Law and Safety curriculum focuses on e-bike and e-scooter law and safety and addresses the wide range of active transportation devices increasingly appearing on New York’s roads.
Each session is tailored to the hosting community and can includes guidance on using local crash data sources and police crash reports to to find local hot spots and support GTSC grant applications. We also review the interaction between local ordinances and the NYS Vehicle & Traffic Law (VTL), using local examples when applicable. Our flexible training schedules can be designed to accommodate every schedule with morning and evening availability.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in e-bikes and scooters. This class finally clarified the laws—what applies, how to enforce it, and how to better educate our community.”
— Law Enforcement Participant, 2025 Training
A key strength of the program is its collaborative nature. NYBC actively engages with law enforcement and community partners, and uses local examples whenever possible. Host agencies are encouraged to invite participants whose perspectives help shape discussion and strengthen the training including, for example, the local traffic offense prosecutor. With support from GTSC and the Police Chiefs Association in promoting classes, this open approach brings together a mix of practitioners whose experiences deepen understanding, enhancing education for officers and reflecting the needs of the communities they serve. According to NYBC Assistant Director of Bicycle Safety Education, Ed Brennan, “Too many citizens have a poor understanding of how and even whether these easily available devices may be used lawfully and safely on our roads. This class recognizes and supports the critical role law enforcement has in safely integrating the growing population of active transportation users on our roadways.”
Topics Covered in the Training
The curriculum supports officers in safely integrating growing numbers of active transportation users into their communities, an emerging challenge across New York State, and NYBC can tailor trainings to each agency from modules including
- The role of enforcement within the “3 E’s” (Education, Enforcement and Engineering) as well as the Safe Systems Approach
- Local crash trends as they relate to bicyclists and vulnerable road users
- Understanding active transportation users - distinguishing why different people ride these devices, where they ride, how they ride and why they may ride incorrectly
- Bicycle law and safety fundamentals
- Essential statutory definitions - including definitions distinguishing different kinds of devices, and the applicability of general transportation laws to active transportation
- Where devices may operate, who may use them, and equipment requirements for different devices
- How NYS VTL interacts with local laws and ordinances
- Safe motorist interactions, helmet requirements, and helmet fitting
- Practical enforcement guidance, offender education, and appropriate charging
- Bicycle/e-bike/e-scooter crash response, investigation and reporting
- Finding and applying local crash data to find local trends and hot spots, and for use in GTSC grant applications
- Common enforcement errors
- Other Devices/Limited Use Vehicles (electric unicycles, electric skateboards, kit devices, segways, hoverboards)ATV’s, dirt bikes - to the extent of their use on roadways and who may use them
- Pedestrian law and safety
- Working with schools and communities to improve safety
- Engaging with younger children through bike rodeos and traffic gardens
- Preventing bike theft, recovering stolen bikes
- Additional free resources for information from NYBC and others
Want to bring this training to your community? Reach out to our team
NYBC’s law enforcement training programs are funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with a grant from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
