*** Getting tough on scooters ***

Clark County, Washington -- 06/21/2004
Motorized foot scooters, some as quiet as an electric mixer and
some as noisy as a leaf blower, are speeding along streets,
sidewalks and park trails throughout Clark County and in
cities and towns around the nation.

The electric or gasoline-powered scooters delight dozens of
youngsters, such as 12-year-old Landon Rady and his brother,
Aaron, 10, of Camas. They say the swift little transport toys are
more fun than ice cream and cake.

But, from adults, there's a growing chorus of critics who worry
about hazards and noise from unregulated scooters. In Clark
County, both Vancouver and Camas are considering ordinances
to make the popular scooters safer and quieter.

Vancouver city prosecutor Josephine Townsend has gathered
more than two dozen comments from the public on a proposed
motorized- scooter ordinance that's to come before the city
council in July.

"Most people want them not on sidewalks, or in parks," she said.
"Most people want helmets, and operators to have driver's licenses
or to be at least 16 years old. Most want mufflers on the scooters
and no use after dark, and speed limits," she said. "Those are the
highlights we've been receiving."

The Rady kids, however, love the nearly silent, $350 electric
BladeZ scooters they and five other kids ride around their
cul-de-sac. They ride under close supervision of their parents.
The ground rules are helmets on, no riding side by side, no
racing and no more than one kid on a scooter.

I love them," said Landon, son of Renee and Dorian Rady,
six-year Camas residents. While their mom watched closely,
Aaron and Landon whizzed around their subdivision circle
with big grins on their faces.

"They're a lot easier than a bicycle," said Aaron, who noted the
boys have pretty much given up the foot-powered Razor scooters
and bicycles they were riding last year. Their dad originally got an
electric scooter for himself three years ago, and still rides on
occasion,
he said.

Outside the Rady subdivision, other scooters sometimes dart
along woodsy paths and busy streets, alarming drivers, walkers,
runners and bicyclists. Gasoline-powered scooters roar through
neighborhoods and parks, their riders sometimes breaking traffic
laws and dodging on and off the roads and sidewalks,
endangering the public.

Surge of scooters

Across the country, complaints are being filed with police about
the so-called "powerboards," mostly driven by kids from 9 to 16
of years of age at speeds of 15 to 25 mph.

Other Washington towns passing or considering scooter ordinances
include Mount Vernon, Stanwood, Puyallup, Kirkland, Wenatchee,
Lake Stevens, Sedro-Woolley, Seattle and Burlington.

In Washington, the two-wheelers operate under rules similar to
bicycles. Kids can drive them without licenses, insurance,
helmets or speed limits.

In some cities, scooters haven't been a problem. In Battle Ground,
for instance, police Lt. Roy Butler said, "This really hasn't come up
on our radar screen. It's not one of our primary enforcement issues
right now." The few scooters seen in town haven't been a problem,
he said.

But in many areas observers say they're afraid more kids
are going to get hurt, and scooter injuries are rising across
the nation.

One reason is there simply are many more scooters. More than
1.5 million were imported last year, three times the number in 2002.
Most came from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. More than a
dozen American manufacturers such as BladeZ, Scooters Unlimited,
Cap'n Billy's Whiz Bang Electric Scooters, Currie Lightning Electric
Scooter and Currie Phat Fly have produced thousands more.

Renee Rady points out that safety is possible. In the year her
boys and the neighbor kids have been riding, none have been
hurt, she said.

She conceded, however, "the ones that have the gasoline
motors are a lot noisier and faster."

Taking up the challenge

Bad boys have souped up a few gas scooters to make them faster
and removed their mufflers to make them sound like Jet Skis or
chain saws.

The Legislature this year rejected two bills on scooters. One would
have kept them off all public byways; another would have required
a driver's license and registration, helmets, and a maximum speed
of 15 mph. It would have kept scooters off sidewalks and restricted
them to streets where the speed limit is 25 mph or less.

Without a state law, Camas is taking up the challenge. Police
Chief Don Chaney, noting he has no authority other than traffic
laws to regulate the scooters, brought a proposed ordinance to
the city council June 7. He said he generally gets two or three
complaints a week about scooters, probably about as many as
about noisy parties and barking dogs.

He was following up on a discussion
led by Councilman Scott Higgins.

"The last thing I want to do is a whole lot of regulating," said
Higgins,
who jumped into the scooter debate after witnessing a near-collision
between a gasoline-powered scooter and a car on Fargo Street on
Prune Hill.

"The kid was bloody on his hand and already had one arm in a
sling; he'd been operating the scooter with one hand," said Higgins.
"He was cussing, and wouldn't give his name, and ran off."

Chaney suggested in his draft ordinance that scooter pilots be at
least 16 years old, wear helmets and ride only on streets. His draft
ordinance sets a maximum speed of 25 mph and requires gas-powered
scooters to have mufflers. It sets a maximum fine of $250 for
violations.

The council referred the issue to the city's youth council,
which will reconvene when school starts in the fall.

It's clear some regulations are needed on the scooters,
said Higgins. "Those things can fly."

He said he's willing to wait until fall to resolve the issue because
it is "a perfect fit" for youth council deliberation. The youth council
doesn't meet in the summer.

Councilwoman Liz Pike agreed that children should
wear helmets and follow traffic laws.

But, said Pike, "The thing I have a problem with is they've got
a couple of bad kids who are not following the rules, and they
want to punish all the kids that use them by making them illegal."

That would be a bad idea, she said. Most scooter riders are from
13 to 15 years of age, including her own kids and neighbors,
she said.

"After that age, the scooter is never going to come out of
the garage," she said, "because kids will get interested in cars.

"Also, the electric ones are 'green,'" she said. "They don't use fuel.
We should encourage kids to use electricity for transportation."

Councilwoman Mary Kufeldt-Antle, whose two children also ride
electric scooters, said she'd favor kids being required to wear
helmets but generally doesn't believe an ordinance would fix the
scooter issue.

"This is not something government is going to solve with restrictions,"
she said. "Maybe guidelines should be in place; maybe kids under
12 shouldn't be allowed to ride these things."

But, in general, she said, keeping kids and the public safe is what
parents and all adults need to do in this matter, as in many others.
They should protect the public safety without new laws, she said.

The debate
Should motorized scooters be regulated by city ordinances?

On one side: Used improperly, scooters can be dangerous.
Kids as young as 9 ride them, without helmets, on sidewalks,
paths and streets. Some are traffic hazards or noisy.

On another side: Parents should be responsible for their children.
Most kids wear helmets and ride quiet, electric scooters responsibly.

How to get involved: Write to Camas City Council,
616 N.E. Fourth Ave.,
Camas, WA 98607, or call
Vancouver city prosecutor Josephine Townsend,
who is taking public comments, at 360-696-8251.

Scooter Injuries
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said there
were 5,900 injuries associated with motorized scooters in the
United States in 2002, compared with 1,330 in 1999. That's
a 344 percent increase.

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