*** Pocket bikes not a legal ride ***

Pittsburgh, PA (AP) -- 08/15/2004
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.
yesterday launched an awareness campaign against potentially
dangerous motorized scooters, warning people that they are
illegal to drive on streets and highways in Pennsylvania.

"We're seeing more of these put into the stream of commerce,"
Zappala said during a news conference outside the Green Tree
police department. "These items lack the most basic safety features."

Upon Zappala's request, the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation looked into the legal issues surrounding motorized
scooters, also known as pocket bikes, and determined that they
are illegal to use outside private property.

"A lot of parents are totally unaware that they're illegal, much less
dangerous," said Kathy Tress, safety press officer for PennDOT's
District 11.

Unlike mopeds or motorcycles, the scooters have no fenders or turn
signals and lack an adequate suspension to make them streetworthy,
Tress said.

Zappala said he is working with County Council to try to post
signs in private businesses that sell the scooters, alerting
consumers that the vehicles are not legal for use on the street.

"It's a life-or-death issue," said Chief Michael Klein of Harrison,
who is president of the Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association.

Klein said warnings and citations will be issued.

Also on hand at the news conference was Dr. Barbara Gaines
of Children's Hospital, who warned that "Sometimes things that
look like toys really aren't."

Zappala said he was spurred to look into the issue of motorized
scooters both because they are a trend in the Northeast that has
creeped into Allegheny County and because of the death of a
19-year-old New York City resident on one last month during
a police chase.

Officials did not have statistics about how many motorized
scooters have been sold in Allegheny County, but Zappala
said they are available at various chain retailers.

It is also unclear exactly how many people in the
county have been injured in pocket bike accidents.

Children's Hospital has seen 18 scooter injuries this year requiring
admission as of Monday, compared with eight for 2003, but the
category does not distinguish between motorized and non-motorized
vehicles.

By comparison, there have been 142 bicycle injuries, 34 all-terrain
vehicle injuries and 12 skateboard injuries this year requiring
admission,
according to Children's Hospital.

"Right now, we're trying to warn everybody," Zappala said.
"We don't want to react to tragedy."

The news conference was capped off by 12-year-old Regis
Bender Jr. of Bethel Park, a cousin of one of Zappala's employees,
who gamely offered to demonstrate his motorized scooter to the media.

"I don't think we should be filming it," Gaines said, as she watched
Bender zoom around the municipal building's lot.

"It looks like too much fun."

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