Here are the regulations Raleigh leaders are proposing for Bird scooters
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- New rules of the road for the City of Raleigh?
The city is laying out their plan to regulate hundreds of scooters already zipping across roads and sidewalks.
Right now, Raleigh has about 1,300 scooters -- including Bird and Lime. Back in July, the city started with fewer than 200.
On Tuesday, city leaders discussed enforcement of the scooters, as well as potential issues.
Chad Bryant lives downtown and says his daily routine now is using Bird's electric scooters.
Bryant and riders like him are petitioning city council expressing their desire to ride without limitations.
"I've emailed every single one of them," Bryant said.
But not everyone believes the scooters should set up without regulations.
"As a driver, I think it's a little bit dangerous," said Scott Conklin. "They are fun to ride. They are inexpensive. But on the other hand, to have a functioning downtown that's not all over the place, you need some rules in place."
Here are the city's proposed regulations:
- No more than 1500 electric scooters (including Bird and Lime) in the city, 20 percent of them must be stationed in low-income neighborhoods.
- Scooters must be relocated and rebalanced daily, and a 24-hour customer service line to report safety concerns, maintenance issues or complaints.
- Loading zones, bus stops and crosswalks are among the restrictions, including no more than four scooters parked on a street block.
- All scooters would have to be removed from the public right of way by 10 p.m.
- And no more kids riding scooters. Under the proposed regulation users must be 18.
- Each scooter must be equipped with a display that says 'no riding on sidewalk.'
Bird says it will work with the city to build a policy that works for everyone.
Its statement said in part:
"We believe people should have more access to affordable, environmentally friendly transportation options, not less."
In the meeting with city leaders Tuesday, Raleigh officers described how difficult it is to enforce the rules.
"The concern for me as Chief is the unreasonable expectation when you have a thousand plus scooters throughout the city," said Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown. "This places additional pressures on our officers, who are already responding to many police-related incidents."
Wake County EMS said there have been 22 reported incidents involving the scooters since they first landed in Raleigh in July.
Police have handed out two citations to riders and one person did receive a DWI.
