Better buy a helmet …

It was just the opening salvo, but it appears that lost patience with riders of e-bikes and scooters are to the point that they are ready to go well beyond the “Well, how about more education” approach they opted for back in April.

This week, a bill was introduced that, if passed, would set speed limits, prohibit assisted use on sidewalks and mandate helmets for minors. The actual bill will be discussed in the meeting scheduled for Aug. 26.

Education (evidently) not the answer

During the April discussion, it appeared for a moment the the council was ready to take a pioneering role and become the first city in the state to mandate helmets for e-bikes and electric scooters after asking and being told by City Attorney Brittany Walker that there was no state law that would stop the city from doing so.

“Under Nevada traffic laws, it specifically authorizes local governments to make our own traffic laws and additional safety requirements like imposing a helmet requirement. I don’t believe that would be preempted,” she said. “I did reach out to the other local jurisdictions in southern Nevada to see if any of them had ever even explored a helmet law. They agreed it wouldn’t be preempted.”

But things took a turn after Councilwoman Sherri Jorgensen talked about her experience learning about bike safety as a kid.

“I was just going back to the glory days of when I had bike rodeo when I was in kindergarten, first, second, third grade, where they came and discussed bike safety with us,” she remembered. “We brought our bikes to school. We went around the cones. We did all these things and it stuck with me, even into my adult years. So, let’s have a helmet rodeo where we give a helmet out and explain things.”

At that time, Police Chief Tim Shea also expressed a preference for an education approach rather than enforcement.

Answering a question from Councilwoman Cokie Booth about how police respond when they see a child riding in an unsafe manner, Shea said that issuing tickets to kids would not help the situation after noting that he came from a jurisdiction before coming to Boulder City where helmets were mandatory for all bike and scooter riders.

“What the officers have been doing is getting their parents’ number and calling them and saying, ‘Here’s what Johnny’s doing,’” Shea said. “Most folks, when you tell them they’re doing something wrong, they stop. For the most part, I mean. I believe education is the first way to go. If you give people an even chance, I believe they’ll do it. Most people will.”

What the proposed law proposes

What changed? No one is saying. But, under the proposed ordinance, the emphasis turns sharply in the direction of enforcement.

The bill adds definitions for bicycles, electric bicycles, electric scooters, roller skates, scooters and skateboards, requires helmets in certain circumstances, establishes speed limits for the operation of these devices on sidewalks, trails, and paths and prohibits some devices from operating upon sidewalks, trails and paths.

The move comes after other jurisdictions, including Clark County and the city of Las Vegas, both passed very similar ordinances. The ordinance would:

Amend city code to establish a speed limit of 15 miles per hour for all devices operating on the sidewalk, including bicycles, e-bikes, roller skates and both electric and manual scooters.

Prohibit engaging the motor of an electric bicycle or motorized skateboard on any sidewalk, skate park, bicycle park, recreational facility, on any city park trail or pathway.

Require a helmet at all times for minors riding bicycles, electric bicycles and electric scooters.

Recommend that a rider use a designated path for bicycles, electric bicycles, or electric scooters when such a path has been provided adjacent to a roadway.

Prohibit the parking of an electric bicycle, or an electric scooter in a manner that obstructs pedestrian or road traffic.

It also adds non-motorized scooters to city code and prohibits their use on roadways, instead requiring their operation to occur on sidewalks or similar paths, and giving them the status of pedestrians while in crossing areas similar to individuals on roller skates or skateboards under current code.

When it comes to the business district, the use of bicycles, electric bicycles, electric scooters, skates, toy vehicles, scooters and skateboards on sidewalks or “other paths contiguous and adjacent to the public access of buildings in use for commercial or industrial purposes, including, but not limited to, shops, restaurants, hotels, banks or office buildings, and public buildings” would be prohibited.

Fines for violations are civil traffic infractions and are proposed at $150 for the first violation, $250 for the second, and $600 for the third and subsequent violations and it clarifies that parents are financially responsible for tickets given to minors.