‘It’s just getting out of control’: More towns restricting kids from electric bikes and scooters

Controversy and concern over the use of electric bicycles and scooters continues its journey from town to town throughout the suburbs this summer as more municipalities consider putting the brakes on kids from operating the mini vehicles.

After neighboring Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg approved sets of new rules last month, residents in Arlington Heights complained to village leaders this week about children riding up and down darkened streets, paths around Lake Arlington and even the downtown Arlington Alfresco pedestrian area.

“It’s just getting out of control,” said Mindy Bowes, who lives a block north of the 50-acre man-made Lake Arlington. “These kids don’t wear helmets. They don’t stop at stop signs. They don’t stop at the lights either. It’s just getting very dangerous.”

Bowes said her street, Crabtree Drive, and the two-mile walking path that encircles the lake have become popular locales for kids to race motorized bikes and scooters. But she also said dirt bikes and ATVs are becoming commonplace behind her backyard, below the ComEd power lines and at the adjacent soccer fields of Wildwood Park.

“We’re just asking for a little bit of help with these kids,” Bowes told village board members at a meeting Monday night. “I don’t know what else to do. So I’m asking for you to come up with some of the same ideas that are going on in some of these other villages.”

Under rules that went into effect Tuesday in Elk Grove, anyone who doesn’t have a valid driver’s license — by definition, anyone under 16 — is barred from operating an e-bike, e-scooter or e-skateboard on public streets.

Schaumburg approved a similar measure last month, setting the minimum rider age at 16, requiring riders to wear helmets and use vehicle lights at night, and prohibiting their operation on sidewalks.

In Addison, riders of e-scooters must be at least 18, while anyone aboard a Class 3 e-bike — the fastest type of bike that can go 28 mph — must be 16.

Elmhurst police in recent months have been stopping children under age 18 who are riding e-scooters on streets and sidewalks, and are beginning to issue citations.

In June, authorities said a child was knocked from an e-scooter on the sidewalk of a busy business area by a car pulling out of a driveway.

A week before that, a 14-year-old on an e-scooter struck a car after riding through an intersection and failed to yield for the posted stop sign.

Both kids weren’t seriously hurt, police said.

Then on Monday afternoon, police cited a 14-year-old boy who was driving on a York Street sidewalk while riding an electric motorcycle that struck a woman who was exiting the front door of a business. She was knocked to the pavement and sustained minor injuries, police said.

The boy was charged with operating a motor vehicle on a sidewalk, not having a valid driver’s license or registration, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. His father was charged with permitting an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle.

Authorities deemed the bike to be a motorcycle since its motor power was more than triple what’s allowed for e-bikes on streets.

Larry Bury, deputy director of the Northwest Municipal Conference, said there hasn’t been regional coordination on proposed restrictions or a model ordinance developed by the organization.

When Schaumburg officials started looking into the issue last December, a conference survey showed few restrictions on e-bikes in the region at that time. But now things appear to be starting to ramp up.

“We have been very limited in this issue up until now. The communities are pretty much doing this on their own,” said Bury, whose Des Plaines-based consortium represents 42 suburban municipalities and one township.

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said he began crafting local rules with the village attorney and police chief two years ago, but he and village trustees — fearing outcry from parents who buy the expensive toys for their kids — never had the political will to do anything until now.

Arlington Heights officials say they are now drafting regulations of their own ahead of a fuller discussion by board members and vote in July or August.

“We’ve all seen and we’ve all heard and we’ve been paying attention to what some of the other communities are doing and saying, and it’s certainly in our list of things that need to be done and addressed,” said Mayor Jim Tinaglia. “It’s cute and fun when you’re in the country and you’re on a gravel road and you got acres of land to goof around on and it’s just you and your family. But (not) in a place when there’s cars coming the other direction or innocent bystanders just walking with their dog or what have you.”

· Daily Herald staff writers Susan Sarkauskas and Eric Peterson contributed to this report.