Denver to consider crackdown on riding dirt bikes, e-motos on roads

In downtown Denver, teenagers on dirt bikes are as common as “native” bumper stickers. But riding those kinds of off-highway vehicles on public streets is actually illegal in Colorado.

Denver City Council members are working on regulations to crack down on street use of dirt bikes, electric motorcycles, four-wheelers and other prohibited vehicles. Though the restrictions would apply to everyone, the effort is specifically intended to keep young riders off the roads. Council members say they were inspired to take action following the deaths of two local teens.

In May, 14-year-old Angel Mendoza and 17-year-old Isaac Rivera Cruz were killed while riding a go-kart near South Federal Boulevard and West Evans Avenue in southwest Denver. The boys reportedly drove the go-kart out of a parking lot and onto Evans Avenue, cutting in front of a moving SUV, according to the police report. The SUV struck the go-kart, killing both boys.

“We can’t just sit back and wait for the next fatality,” says Councilman Kevin Flynn, who is leading the effort with Councilman Chris Hinds.

“It’s simply something we have to address,” Flynn adds. “Next time this happens, I don’t want to have to say to a family, ‘We’re sorry, but we didn’t do anything [to prevent] this.'”

Municipalities throughout the Denver metro have recently passed restrictions on off-highway vehicles, including Douglas County, Aurora and Castle Pines. Denver officials are looking to take inspiration from these neighbors as they begin drafting their own proposal.

Colorado law prohibits off-highway vehicles from public streets, roads and highways statewide. However, Denver police say a city ordinance could help clarify the rules for the public and strengthen enforcement options for authorities.

“I have not been to a community meeting in the past six months where this hasn’t come up,” DPD Deputy Chief Aaron Sanchez says. “Anytime these vehicles are on the roadway, they create a safety hazard; one, for the rider, and two, for the general public.”

Large groups of dirt bike and e-moto riders often illegally gather in downtown Denver. More than 100 riders flooded South Broadway on July 16; footage from Fox31 shows them running multiple red lights, blocking the bus lane and popping wheelies. Social media posts of the group ride appear to show minors taking part.

Recent devastating crashes throughout the metro have made city officials rethink how they handle the vehicles. On July 16, a juvenile e-motorcycle rider was hospitalized in Commerce City after he ran a stop sign and was struck by a vehicle. In May, a juvenile died in an ATV crash in Adams County. Last December, a 15-year-old died in a dirt bike crash near Colorado Springs. Months before, an adult was killed in Aurora after he drove his dirt bike into a pickup truck. And in September 0f 2025, an 18-year-old was killed in a crash between a dirt bike and an ATV in Aurora.

Sanchez says it is difficult to put a number on the scope of the issue in Denver. He says police try to give warnings rather than citations when dealing with minors, and crash reports are fragmented across various categories depending on how the vehicle is identified.

For the council members, one death is too many.

“We have a responsibility to make sure that our city is safe,” Hinds says.

“Everything should be on the table,” Flynn says, including fines, confiscations and even criminal charges.

Hinds says he is looking at Douglas County’s new restrictions for inspiration. The county’s ordinance requires operators of certain off-highway vehicles to have driver’s licenses and insurance, and adds fines up to $1,000 for driving on roads and sidewalks, the Colorado Sun reported. Parents can face fines if they knowingly allow their children to ride unauthorized vehicles. Aurora’s ordinance fines parents at least $250 for letting a minor use off-highway vehicles.

Flynn is exploring the possibility of criminal charges against parents who provide vehicles to their children if they are operated in an illegal manner. He points to an ongoing California case in which a mother was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter after her 14-year-old son allegedly struck and killed a man while riding an illegal e-motorcycle.

“I really hope that we can get the word out, focus a spotlight on the problem, and cause parents to think twice,” Flynn says. “It is illegal to ride any of these vehicles in Denver, but parents are buying them for their kids. … It’s already illegal. What can we do? Make it more illegal? There’s already a parental responsibility.”

Sanchez says he is “indifferent” toward going after parents. He’d rather the ordinance make it easier for law enforcement to confiscate off-highway vehicles when they’re ridden on public streets.

Current nuisance abatement laws have “very, very high standards” for when officers can seize property, Sanchez says, making them difficult to apply to riding off-highway vehicles. He wants city council to establish a three-strike system for confiscating the vehicles when they are unlawfully ridden on public streets.

“I would not be supportive of taking a kid’s mini bike the first time they did it, but if it’s repeated behavior, maybe three strikes, I would like to see the seizure of the vehicle,” Sanchez explains. “That seems, to me, to have more value in correcting behavior than a citation.”

Under the Douglas County ordinance, the restrictions do not apply to e-bikes or e-scooters that travel at only about 20 mph. State law defines off-highway vehicles as self-propelled vehicles designed primarily for use off the public highways and commonly used for recreational purposes.

However, e-bikes and e-scooters have also faced criticism in Denver regarding youth safety. In June, a local 13-year-old boy died after he was struck by a vehicle while riding a rentable Veo e-bike. Since Veo became the city’s new micromobility operator, some residents have complained of seeing more children riding the e-vehicles, despite minors being prohibited from renting them.

Hinds says he is looking into the possibility of requiring age verification for users to rent Veo scooters. That proposal would be separate from the off-road vehicle ordinance.

According to Hinds, city council previously discussed mandatory identification as part of the sign-up process for e-bike and e-scooter rentals. However, there were concerns that an ID requirement would negatively impact “migrants and people who are afraid to submit documentation.”

“We want to make sure that our city is as welcoming as possible and that these people can get around our city. So, we ended up removing the ID requirement,” he explains. “Under further consideration, we’re taking another look at that.”

Flynn says they will conduct public outreach when there are more specifics, so residents should be informed about the proposal before city council holds a vote.

Even if the regulations are passed into law, he fears it will not solve the issue overnight.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Flynn says. “Frankly, it’s extremely difficult to enforce because if there’s a police presence around, the kids aren’t going to be doing it. … I don’t want to make anybody think that we’ll pass this and that’ll stop it. It won’t. But I can’t get the image of those two kids on the go-kart out of my mind.”

“It’s not something I can forget,” he adds. “I don’t want to wait for the next one.”