mobanmarketOAK LAWN, IL — As a long-time high school driver’s education instructor, Oak Lawn Tr. Jamie Pembroke (Dist. 4) cringed when he saw a young girl recently riding an electric scooter down Kostner holding a Big Gulp and going against traffic.
“I got chills down my spine,” Pembroke said during the Aug. 13 village board meeting. “She did not stop for any traffic lights or stop signs.”
Over the summer, Pembroke says many of his constituents have voiced similar concerns about middle-school kids riding their electric scooters willy-nilly down village streets, swerving into traffic, riding on the wrong side of the street and blowing traffic lights and stop signs.
“My observation is they’re not familiar with the rules of the road,” Pembroke said. “You see a lot of these 10, 12, 14-year-old kids driving scooters in groups two or three abreast on the wrong side of the street.”
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Unlike a bicycle that is self-powered by the rider, any vehicle of conveyance powered by a motor, such as an e-scooter, is defined as a motorized vehicle.
“I don’t know what the solution is,” Pembroke said. “I hate to see a child blow a stop sign and run out in front of a car on a motorized vehicle. Some of these scooters do 20, 25, maybe even 35mph. I know you’ve seen them out there. I think the problem is growing and before something happens, I think about what we can do about it.”
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In the past few years, Illinois has been prompted to establish specific laws governing the use of motorized scooters, which are divided into different categories based on size, with no special licensing for their riders. This classification aligns with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s designation of electric scooters as “low speed vehicles,” said legal experts from Shuman Legal.
Electric scooter riders are allowed to use public roads in the state of Illinois. However, local municipalities may enforce additional restrictions. While low-speed scooter drivers can enjoy the open road, local rules and regulations may apply in their area. E-scooter laws and regulations also require helmets and other protective gear.
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A driver’s license is not required to operate the scooters unless they can go over 30 mph. However, on the state level, there’s a proposed bill floating around that aims to change this. If passed, it would require riders 16 and older to have a valid driver’s license, instruction permit, or state ID card to legally operate an electric scooter. When it comes to young kids, however, the laws get murky.
Pembroke added that he’s also fielded complaints from residents walking their dogs or pushing strollers about kids riding their electric scooters down the sidewalks.
“It’s not like they’re doing these things purposely,” Pembroke said. “They just don’t know. There are fifth and sixth graders just cruising around out in the streets.”
Tr. Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2) echoed Pembroke’s concerns, saying he’s hearing from residents about kid-motorized scooter packs.
“It’s a common complaint I’m hearing more and more,” Olejniczak said. “It’s getting to the point where if we don’t do something now, we’re going to have to do something in the future.”
Mayor Terry Vorderer asked the village attorneys to look into the village’s options for creating a regulation or ordinance or permit system for electric scooters.
“I don’t want the police department running around chasing kids on scooters when they could be doing something serious,” Vorderer said. “We should be looking into this before we have a tragedy. Believe me, it’s coming.”
The low-speed electric scooters range from $198 to over $1,000 most with a maximum speed of 21 mph, according to listings on Amazon. Many come equipped with a cupholder and bracket for a cell phone. Not only are tweens and teens riding electric scooters, adult commuters are also using them.
Pembroke wants parents to teach their children the rules of the road and bike safety laws before letting them go riding off on their electric scooters. He’s even volunteered to go to public and parochial schools to talk to middle-school students about bike safety and being safe on a scooter.
“I just want people to be aware,” Pembroke told Patch. “I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun. We need to educate our children. These scooters are relatively new, it’s something that looks like a toy, but it’s much more than that.”
“Parents are the primary educators,” he said. “You can’t rely on everyone else to do the work.”
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