The Lynnwood City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday, Aug. 10 regulating motorized foot scooters, which have been creating a buzz around the area for months.
The City Council discussed the terms and amendments to the ordinance for more than two hours in front of a handful of concerned citizens before taking the final vote.
Council member Don Gough said it was important to create a fair ordinance that focuses on safety.
“I’m sure we’re not going to make everybody happy, but these (motorized foot scooters) have to be controlled,” Gough said. “I am deeply concerned about this.”
The ordinance states that the operator must wear a helmet and be at least 16 years old. The scooters must be equipped with a muffler in good working order to reduce noise levels, which has been a focus of citizen complaints received by the City Council.
Also included in the ordinance are regulations limiting the time of day and locations in which the scooters can be driven. Drivers must stay off of arterials and streets with speed limits higher than 25 mph. They must also drive in bike lanes, where available, or otherwise on the streets; scooters may not be driven on sidewalks, trails, city-owned property or in city parks. Scooters can be operated only during daylight hours.
Penalties for violating the regulations include a citation for $100 on first offense and $250 on subsequent offenses for people age 16 and older. If younger than 16, the violator will be fined $250 on the first and all subsequent offenses. The police also can seize the scooter. Police discretion will be used when deciding if seizure and forfeiture are necessary for violators age 16 and older.
The Council began discussing the need for such an ordinance in April. Jim Smith, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety/Public Works Workgroup committee, was one of the leaders in creating the original ordinance. The Council reviewed it and discussed amendments to the ordinance in last week’s work session.
One key discussion topic was the age limit regulation. When the City Council first began discussion Tuesday, the age limit had been set at 13.
Council member Loren Simmonds recognized the need to increase the age limit from 13 to 16.
“I believe I was the person in the discussion that came up with the compromise of 13 years of age,” Simmonds said. “Shame on me.”
Simmonds called citizens who had complained about the motorized scooters to the City Council, he said. It became clear to him that for the safety of children, the age should be set higher than 13.
The Council voted on this amendment, which passed 6-1, with Martin Nelson opposing the change.
“If we’re going to raise it up to 16 years old, we might as well ban motor scooters,” he said. Nelson said he felt that most children would lose interest in the scooters by the age of 16 because they will be able to drive cars legally.
Council member Ted Hikel expressed his desire to outlaw scooters. He said he understood that was not possible because the state legislature recently voted to allow legal operation of motorized scooters. The legislature left regulations up to individual cities, but prohibited cities from requiring education or registration of the scooters, Gough said.
Hikel said he feels a 30-pound scooter, 80-pound person and a 2,000-pound car should not be traveling on the same streets. He said paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians should not have to answer calls that deal with the deaths of youngsters, and he does not want drivers to deal with any guilt caused because a child did not know the rules of the road and ended up injured.
Hikel said he dislikes the state legislature’s decision concerning motorized scooters.
“Sometimes laws are passed that don’t pass the common sense test,” Hikel said. “This is one of them.”
Smith said that the City Council must respond and find a solution to best fit Lynnwood.
“Regardless of whether (the law is) good or not, it is the law,” Smith said.
Another aspect the City Council focused on was educating children about safety. The police department will create and distribute educational brochures about the scooters to vendors and anyone interested.
“The real responsibility is with the parents to educate their children,” Smith said.
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