Scooters face scrutiny

On May 14, 9-year-old Jeremiah Reed was riding a pocket bike, a kind of miniature motorcycle, on a street outside his Stanwood-Kayak Point area home.

As he cruised by, his father, Barry Reed, was working on a car and noted that Jeremiah wasn’t wearing a helmet. He decided to remind his son to put one on when he rode back by the house.

Jeremiah never made it back.

When he reached the top of the hill, he collided with a truck in the 16500 block of 78th Avenue NW. The impact broke his neck, and he died without regaining consciousness.

Despite their son’s death, the Reeds don’t think motorized scooters and pocket bikes, which fall under the same laws, should be banned. But the Reeds do think they should be regulated.

They think riders should be required to wear helmets, although it wouldn’t have helped in Jeremiah’s case, and they say an age limit “wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Others disagree, saying that such regulations would infringe on individual rights. The state Legislature, for example, has declined so far to regulate scooters. Individual cities in Snohomish County, however, are picking up the slack and have been actively passing laws this summer.

Jeremiah’s mother, Tami Reed, said if there was an age limit, her son wouldn’t have been on the minimotorcycle. He was a brilliant and obedient child, easily able to master tasks well beyond his 9 years, she said. That made it easy for his parents to let him do challenging things for a boy his age.

“Often, I let Jeremiah do things because of his maturity and his intelligence,” Tami Reed said.

Barry Reed said minivehicles are just hard for other motorists to see.

“The main concern is visibility,” he said. “These scooters are so small that they’ll hide behind things.”

Motorized scooters and pocket bikes are zippy and fun, cheap to operate and popular with recreational riders and those seeking alternative transportation. But the latest minivehicle fad, legalized by the state in 2003, is fueling controversy as scooters and bikes cruise city streets and sidewalks.

Along with safety issues, detractors don’t like the noise, which is akin to a lawn mower.

Kim Hughes of Marysville lives near downtown in what she calls a quiet neighborhood – except for motorized scooters.

“They go down here 35 mph, at least, on those scooters. They don’t stop at the stop signs, they don’t wear helmets. (Riders) double up on them.

“We get in trouble if we accidentally hit one, and they’re being foolish. They ought to be outlawed,” Hughes said of the scooters.

A balancing act

“We’ve got to look out for the public’s safety, but we also want to be fair to the riders,” Marysville Police Chief Bob Carden said. “It’s a balancing act.”

Marysville is one of the few cities in the county that hasn’t yet looked at the problem. But City Council member Jeff Vaughan heads a new committee that will begin work on the issue in September and may have recommendations ready for the council this fall.

“There’s quite a proliferation of these now. We can’t ignore them,” Vaughan said. “The public that does use them responsibly wants to know where they can ride them. We need to be clear about what our expectations are.

“What most people are complaining about is the way some of these individuals operate the scooters, zipping in and out of traffic, on the street, (not wearing) helmets, and the age of the riders or drivers,” he said.

Vaughan lives on a busy street and often has to stop talking when a motorized scooter passes by, he said. “It’s so loud it interrupts conversations and phone calls. If it bothers me, it’s certainly going to bother other folks in town.”

He doesn’t want to infringe on the rights of riders, and also doesn’t want to divert police to something that’s not a high priority. But Vaughan said he also doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt or killed.

Law enforcement officials have safety concerns regarding tiny motorized vehicles, Washington State Patrol Capt. Bob Lenz said.

“Anytime children are riding these scooters that have no skills or training in operating a motor vehicle, often they’re riding in and out of traffic with no helmet or safety equipment,” he said. “The consequences for one of these miscalculations could be a serious head injury or broken limbs or death.

“When you give a young child a motorized anything, they haven’t matured in risk analysis of consequences of their behavior,” he said. “Children have little or no control over these. They have no protection around them. Their body is basically the bumper for their vehicle.”

Parents need to ensure their children’s safety by controlling what motorized vehicles they ride and how they are equipped, Lenz said.

Some cities act fast

Cities are stepping up to try and control the situation.

Stanwood was one of the first in the county to pass a scooter law last winter.

Many cities have followed. Lynnwood passed an ordinance on Monday, and Everett passed one governing “wheeled recreational devices” on Wednesday.

Even the Snohomish Health District is getting involved. On Tuesday, the district approved a resolution calling for cities and county government to set a minimum age for operation for motorized scooters, limit speeds to 25 miles per hour, require a helmet and ban scooters after dark.

The Lake Stevens City Council tried to beat the proliferation of minivehicles on streets by passing a law in December, just before Christmas.

“We were afraid there were going to be hundreds of them showing up under Christmas trees,” council member Steve Brooks said. “It’s getting to be a bigger and bigger problem.”

The Lake Stevens law is not as broad as some other cities have adopted. But it does require those younger than 18 to wear helmets.

“I foresee us seeking more regulation in the future,” Police Chief Randy Celori said.

Fans of the machines don’t want a few bad riders to spoil the pleasure for all riders. Aaron James, who helped draft Stanwood’s ordinance, sells motorized scooters of all types from his Stanwood store.

“They’re a great form of alternative transportation,” he said. “They get 30 miles to a liter of gas. You can get around town on them, and you don’t have to worry about parking spots. And they’re fun. They’re just a kick in the pants to ride.

“There are safety issues,” he said. “You should be at least 14 or older, wear all your gear and obey all the traffic laws, just like a bicycle.

But “some of these kids are weaving in and out. That’s why people get all hot and say, ‘We need to ban these.’ “

James said licensed drivers need to pay more attention to what’s going on around them.

“Everybody needs to be aware of them,” he said of scooters. “A lot of people need to get off their cellphones and pay attention to their driving.”

James said many scooter riders are responsible.

“If they’re horsing around, they need to be ticketed, but you can’t just generalize and say they’re all bad,” he added.

Miguel Carrillo III, 12, of Marysville, is one of those responsible scooter riders. His father, Miguel Carrillo Jr., makes sure of that.

Even though Marysville doesn’t yet have a law governing scooters, Miguel’s father won’t allow him to carry a passenger, and insists he follow traffic laws and use a headlight.

Miguel received a gas-powered scooter and helmet for his birthday in June. But that scooter broke down, so he got an electric one instead.

“The gas one I don’t like,” he said. “It’s not as easy to hold on to, it goes faster, and it’s noisier. If you let go a little bit with one hand, you’re flying off that thing. The electric one is a little safer.”

One safety tip Miguel doesn’t follow is to wear a helmet. He used to wear one, but said it interfered with his peripheral vision.

“I tell him (other drivers) are not going to watch for you, so you have to be aware all the time,” Miguel Carrillo Jr. said.

Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.

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