Ankeny weighs new rules as more kids ride e-scooters and e-bikes
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Teenagers on electric motorcycles in San Diego. Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images
One of the top concerns Ankeny residents bring to Mayor Bobbi Bentz is kids riding electric motorcycles — sometimes called e-motos — on the city's trails and sidewalks.
What they're saying: "I feel like I hear personally more about this than my budget," Bentz said at a Monday night council workshop.
The big picture: These devices are increasingly common across the Des Moines metro, and cities are trying to figure out how to regulate them without creating new burdens for bicyclists and e-bike riders.
Catch up quick: Iowa lawmakers attempted to set a statewide standard earlier this year, but the effort failed after the bill was expanded to include unrelated provisions that drew heavy public opposition, Bentz says.
- Now, efforts to regulate electric devices are back to municipalities, she says.
Driving the news: Ankeny police sergeant James Wilson suggested the council simplify the city's existing ordinance by dropping the current e-bike classification system and replacing it with a single 20 mph speed limit for trail and sidewalk users, including bicyclists, e-scooter riders and low-speed e-bike users.
How it works: The city's existing code categorizes allowable e-bikes and e-scooters by motor power and a top speed of 20 mph, but officers say discerning them is difficult.
- Also, online guides show users how they can modify e-bikes with a 20 mph top speed to go faster.
- Enforcing a speed limit is easier for officers, Wilson says.
Zoom in: Issuing fines would be a last resort, Wilson says. The proposal categorizes a violation as a simple misdemeanor, but the goal is to first educate families about what's allowed.
- If the ordinance passes, the city plans to install informational signs on trails and print informational materials.
- "We don't want to go out and write tickets to 8-year-olds," Wilson said.
What's next: The Ankeny City Council is expected to take up the ordinance for its first reading on March 16.
- It needs to pass three readings to become city code.