*** Scooters, Graffiti in Council's Sights ***

Yakima, Washington -- 07/05/2004
After Tuesday, kids in the city of Yakima may have two fewer things
they can do: ride motorized foot scooters and buy spray paint.

The City Council is considering measures that would prohibit anyone
under 14 from riding motorized foot scooters and stop minors from
buying spray paint or broad-tip permanent markers.

The council will vote on the measures at its Tuesday meeting,
which starts at 2 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 129 N.
Second St.

City staffers have refined a proposed ordinance governing scooters,
but they've struggled with how to define them. Initially, the council's
public safety committee defined scooters as any motorized vehicle
with 12-inch or smaller diameter wheels.

Further research shows that state laws treat the new-fangled
miniature bikes as motorcycles, so standard motorcycle rules
apply: Drivers must be 16 years old, be licensed and wear helmets.

For all real motorized foot scooters, the proposed ordinance reads:
All riders must wear helmets, riders between 14 and 18 have to get
a permit through Yakima police department, anyone under 14 need
not apply.

That's right, 131/2-year-olds riding power scooters wouldn't be
allowed past their driveways. And it could be even more strict if
Councilman Neil McClure has his way. The 48-year-old doesn't
think anyone without a driver's license should ride a scooter,
which he points out is a "motorized vehicle."

The ordinance also requires scooter riders to use lights at night and
directs dealers to alert buyers to the ordinance before any scooter
sale.

Young riders would also have to go through a general
traffic-safety training program with the police department.

Violating any of these rules could cost scooter riders $250.

The spray paint ban is part of a crackdown on graffiti that began
a year ago, when the council made it illegal for kids to carry tools
for graffiti on public or private property that's not their home.

Under state law, fines for painting graffiti can cost children or
adults an up to $5,000 fine, or land a graffiti artist in jail up to
a year.

The new amendment would require stores to keep paint and other
graffiti tools within a clerk's view or away from the public, which is
already the law in Sunnyside. It also requires offenders to complete
community service as part of their punishment.

The goal, assistant city attorney Cynthia Martinez said,
is for kids to volunteer with the city to paint out graffiti.

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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