*** Cities consider restrictions on use of motorized scooters ***

Seattle, Washington -- 06/01/2004
As motorized foot scooters gain fans of all ages
— from teenagers excited about operating an engine,
to senior citizens needing an easy way to get around
— Seattle and surrounding cities are considering passing
scooter legislation to regulate what you can do, and where.

State law says scooters should be treated, for the most part,
like bicycles. But some city officials and residents say the
motorized devices deserve their own set of rules.

"In the last three or four years, the quantity of these products
being pumped into the market has just exploded," said Jim Elmer,
marketing director for Tanaka, an Auburn-based manufacturer of
compact, two-stroke engines for handheld machines. "The biggest
issue is that there are no specific restrictions or guidelines in
existence."

Tanaka provides engines for Bladez, a California-based
manufacturer of scooters and health and fitness devices.

Scooter sales are up 40 percent annually for the past four years
at Bladez, said national sales manager Bill McFadden. Half of Bladez'
customers are 42 years of age or older. Scooters generally cost from
$100 to $1,000.

The average electric scooter travels 15 miles per hour,
while gas scooters go 22 to 25 mph, McFadden said.

Police say they have received an increasing number of calls in
the past six months from residents concerned about scooter
speed and noise and the dangers scooters pose for pedestrians.

In Issaquah, a 15-year-old boy on a scooter was hit by a car
earlier this month after he rode into the street from the sidewalk.
He suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, said Issaquah
police Cmdr. Stan Conrad.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
about 4,390 scooter-related injuries were reported in 2000.
Thirty-nine percent of those injured were younger than 15.

Skyler Waldal, a 14-year-old Mukilteo resident who rides his
scooter to school and to run errands, says the devices are no
more dangerous than bicycles. Plus, they're considered cool
among his peers.

"And we ride them together as a gang," he said. "It's safer."

But Harold Dunkle, a Kirkland Highlands resident who has
been concerned for years about neighborhood kids being
reckless on scooters, calls the situation "an accident literally
waiting to happen."

According to state law, a motorized scooter is a device with two
wheels no bigger than 10 inches in diameter, with handlebars and
an internal-combustion engine or electric motor. It's meant to be
operated sitting or standing, and a driver's license is not required
to ride one.

Scooters can have access to state highways the way bicycles can,
as well as travel multipurpose trails and bicycle lanes that aren't
built
with federal highway funds. State law also says "local jurisdictions
may restrict or otherwise limit the access of electric-assisted bicycles

and motorized foot scooters."

"There's some confusion about what the state allows," said Phyllis
Shulman, legislative assistant for Seattle City Councilman Richard
Conlin, chairman of the council's transportation committee. "From
my understanding, from talking to lawyers, there's a fair bit of
interpretation."

To Conrad, the confusion comes with the motor.

"They cross over between a bicycle and motorized vehicle,
and that's why a specific ordinance is really what's needed,"
Conrad said.

Seattle, Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland and Auburn are among
the cities considering ordinances to restrict scooter use.

Though they differ on specifics, the cities are considering enforcing
speed limits and possibly prohibiting their use on sidewalks, parks,
multi-use trails and streets with a speed limit greater than 25 mph.
Kirkland is looking at designating a minimum age of 13 to operate
a scooter and requiring the use of helmets.

Yale Wong, owner of Galaxy Scooters in Seattle, says he wouldn't
recommend kids younger than 10 use the devices. And some officials
say scooters shouldn't be on public property at all.

Bellevue police Officer Michael Chiu cited the dangers of riding
scooters on sidewalks. "A lot of parents understand these may
be dangerous, so they ask the kids to stay on sidewalks," he said.

But with scooters becoming more popular with older crowds as
well, some adults say they're worried that new legislation will
restrict how they get around.

Grant Stensland, 34, rides from his Lynnwood home to his Northgate
job about two times a week. With his license revoked for driving
under the influence, the scooter is his only personal mode of
transportation.

"Since I don't have a driver's license, I would have to sit on a bus,
so it's freedom to me," Stensland said. "I can go where I want to go,
when I want to go."

*PHOTO
Skyler Waldal, left, follows his cousin, Aaron Warnock,
on their powerboards in a Mukilteo park.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2001943169.jpg

*PHOTO
Skyler Waldal, left, and his cousin, Aaron Warnock,
ride powerboards, a type of scooter, in the bicycle
lane along Mukilteo Speedway.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2001943191.jpg

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