The proliferation of motorized scooters has caused a number of safety concerns throughout the region.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, Councilor-at-Large Leo Robinson requested the council hold a subcommittee meeting with Police Chief Keith Houghton to review and consider revising the city’s motorized scooter ordinances.
“I’m sure we all got a number of calls over the summer in regards to the scooters and the bikes on the sidewalk,” said Robinson. “I just want to take a look at our ordinances to see whether or not we can strengthen it.”
District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor commended Robinson for bringing up the issue and said he looked forward to further discussion in subcommittee.
“This really is an irritating problem that I’m sure we have all had calls on,” said Taylor. “Frankly, it’s becoming a safety hazard.”
District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown said he agreed it is a safety issue, especially with a number of drivers for delivery services using scooters and mopeds. Brown said the city should work to get more information out to the public about what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to operating scooters and other small motorized vehicles.
Councilor-at-Large Roberto Jimenez Rivera noted that the city’s bike and pedestrian committee is in the process of reconfiguring, and said that it should be involved in any discussion involving motorized bikes.
District 6 Councilor Giovanni Recupero pointed out that the state has recently taken action to better regulate mopeds and said he wasn’t sure how much say the city could have over ordinances.
He said mopeds must be operated by a licensed driver and need to be registered.
“I’m not sure what we can do,” Recupero said. “Tow them? We can’t tow them if they have a plate and we can’t stop them from driving if they have a license, so what are we going to do?”