Glendale City Council members laid out ground rules for a future city ordinance on electric bikes and scooters during a Sept. 9 workshop.
If the council retains the consensus it gained during this meeting, age requirements would be as follows:
E-scooter - age 12 and up.
Class 1 and 2 e-bikes with a top speed of 21 mph - age 14 and up.
Class 3 bikes with a top speed of 28 mph - age 16 and up.
Removing the governor on e-bikes to allow them to travel at speeds above 28 mph will be illegal. Helmets are required until age 18, in line with state laws for motorcyclists.
As Vice Mayor Lauren Tolmachoff pointed out, unlike driver permits, which require a licensed driver to be in the car, teens are on their own on these bikes.
“The parents aren’t with them when they’re riding. This has become sort of a Valleywide issue. The behavior away from the home is not the same as the behavior at home,” Tolmachoff said. “That is part of the problem. These kids are putting themselves in danger. I’ve heard from a multitude of residents in my district, adults that are driving vehicles, that are very concerned that they’re going to hit one of these kids.”
Council reached a consensus on maximum fines of $50 For the first offense and $250 for a second offense. Judges will have the discretion to impose lower fines.
All present council members — Bart Turner had an excused absence — agreed that a third violation warrants an automatic $500 fine. But Mayor Jerry Weiers and Councilmember Lupe Conchas pushed back on the suggestion of making a third offense a class one misdemeanor and criminal citation — as is in Scottsdale’s current ordinance — instead of a civil traffic violations.
“I agree with the mayor. I don’t think we should have the third offense as a criminal misdemeanor. Maybe increase the fines but I don’t want any of our under 16 year olds to ruin their life because of this,” Conchas said.
Deputy City Manager Rick St. John presented comparable ordinances already in place for other cities. Phoenix, Goodyear and Mesa do not allow children under age 16 to ride. Scottsdale has the same age restriction only for Class 3 e-bikes.
St. John also mentioned an e-mail from Glendale fleet manager Craig Croner. Before Glendale, Croner worked for the city of Boise, Idaho, and he pointed out that city’s intricate ordinance.
“In Boise, they adopted a pretty good ordinance on e-bikes and e-scooters,” St. John said.
Boise’s rules include language on e-bike and scooter riders refraining from carrying something that lessens control of the device or limits vision. No e-bike or scooter in Boise is allowed to carry more than one person at a time, and the operator cannot use an e-bike or e-scooter that is either too large or too small for their frame.
Tuesday’s other debate topic was if the bikes and scooters could be used on sidewalks. The council quickly landed on requiring bike and scooter riders to use only sidewalks and not streets on roadways with a speed limit higher than 25 mph.
With the arterial streets coming to a consensus quickly, most of the discussion was on sidewalks in neighborhoods, and what language to use if riders were allowed on sidewalks.
Councilmember Ray Malnar suggested limiting residential sidewalk use to e-scooters.
Tolmachoff said she liked Surprise’s ordinance of sidewalks only for arterial roads 35 mph and above on sidewalk, and riding in streets only for residential areas with speed limits of 25 and under.
“Even in a neighborhood, a kid can get hit on a scooter. Sometimes you can’t see them because there’s a car in the way,” Councilmember Dianna Guzman said. “I support allowing the e-scooters to be ridden on sidewalks.”
Eventually, the council decided to allow e-bikes and e-scooters on residential sidewalks, with the caveat that riders will have to get off the bikes and scooters and walk when pedestrian traffic on a street is too heavy.
The definition of reckless operation of an e-bike or e-scooter will be similar to the provision with drivers. E-bike and scooter users must follow all traffic laws.
For perspective, Weiers read a letter from Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission member Giovany Calderon.
One of his younger brothers got into an accident on an e-bike six month ago. The 12-year-old brother suffered a skull fracture, blood clots and seizures, and was hospitalized for two weeks.
Still, Giovany wrote that the e-bikes should be available to 14 year-olds, because a lot of kids that age use them to safely get to and from school in the heat when parents cannot provide transport.
The family believes helmets should be required.
“These kids have some good points that haven’t been brought up. If kids have to walk a mile or mile-and-a-half home and it’s 106 degrees or something, that, potentially could be an issue,” Weiers said.
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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