Bellevue City Council meeting discusses scooter safety

The Bellevue City Council held a scheduled meeting on Monday August 18th. The meeting discussed usual city council matters such as approving minutes and reviewing budgets. A public discussion was held at length about scooter safety in the town, and a preliminary ordinance was drafted.

At the start of the discussion, Mayor Reistroffer emphasized that the city council wanted to hear from the community first before any action was made. Police Chief Schroeder addressed growing concerns by the community about children’s safety. He stated that the children have been blowing through stop signs and not wearing helmets while on scooters. Documentation was provided on the claims, and Chief Schroeder emphasized that any action should not penalize the parents, but protect the public.

Several community members talked about both good and bad experiences with scooters and other similar equipment. Afterwards there was general agreement on the following points: all children should wear helmets, education is critical—many suggested implementing a scooter safety class, parents must play a role in instructing children and ensuring proper safety gear is used, and children should not ride on sidewalks in business districts and must observe appropriate speed limits.

The preliminary ordinance outlines rules such as: who can ride and at what age, Equipment requirements, where they can be ridden, ride safety, enforcement, and permit stickers. They will wait to finalize the ordinance after hearing more from the community and taking it into consideration.