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This was Smith's second visit
to the council chamber. When he came last time there were a number
of concerns raised by council members. One was about the noise the
scooters make and another about their speed and safety in normal
neighborhood traffic. [See Sept. 10
article in LDN.]
So, this time Smith came
equipped to address some of those concerns. He brought with him a
beautiful burgundy scooter. The scooter's maximum speed is 20 mph.
He started it up to demonstrate the volume of noise they create and
their visibility. He demonstrated turn signals, headlights and
taillights when the room lights were dimmed. The noise was nominal
and the visibility deemed good by those in the chamber.
Smith is a dealer and
distributor for the scooters. He suggests that the city would
benefit several ways if they would pass an ordinance allowing the
use of these vehicles in the city. The sale of scooters would
support the development of local businesses and increase sales tax
revenue. He also suggests that the city could sell stickers that
would serve not only as vehicle owner identification but bring the
city some extra revenue too.
Matson would like to be a
rental outlet for the scooters. He's looking to stock merchandise
that will interest his customers and will help maintain or expand
his business. People who cannot afford to buy scooters could rent
them, and it would get people out of the house to have some fun, he
said. He is looking into the insurance coverage his business would
need to do this.
State law leaves the
regulations of such vehicles up to communities. City Attorney Bill
Bates said that within our city code scooters are not legal on
streets. The city would need to be careful about the wording of any
ordinance written that would approve them for use on the city
streets.
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Bates responded to a suggestion
that they could be regulated to ride in limited locations, such as
parks or neighborhoods, or maybe restricted from certain streets.
"You're either going to let them ride them in the city or you're
not," he said. You might be able to say they can only be ridden in
parks. But it would be very difficult to say they can be ridden on
one street and not on another.
Verl Prather suggested that
these vehicles are not much different from the three-wheel
handicapped vehicles that are being seen in use around town. "We've
got to be real careful about how we handle this," he said. "We don't
want to send the wrong message to them [the handicapped] by what we
decide with this."
Details of accident liability
led most of the concerns expressed by the aldermen. Dave Armbrust
questioned who would be financially liable in case of an accident.
Other motorized vehicles on the streets are insured.
Patrick Madigan said that
property owner insurance would cover some situations. If the
Illinois Department of Transportation would be involved, they would
come back to the city for liability. He will be looking into what
insurance is already available to scooter riders.
Smith said that he would like to see the city pass an ordinance
permitting their use around Lincoln soon. He knows there are a lot
of families that would like to have a scooter under their Christmas
tree this year.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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