City Applies Bike Rules to Scooters, Skateboards, and E-Bikes
The York City Council passed an ordinance last night to clarify that scooters, e-bikes, skateboards and other two- or three-wheel vehicles that are human powered and possibly motor-assisted must follow the rules of the road and stay off sidewalks in the downtown area. Currently, state law does not establish rules for these kinds of vehicles. The ordinance clarifies that these smaller means of transport will be treated like bicycles. Operators of these vehicles must follow the same rules that bicycles must follow in the city of York. Ordinance committee members explained that they felt it was critical to require these newer kinds of vehicles to follow the rules of the road and that treating them like bicycles was the simplest way to create rules that are easy to understand and enforce. Motorcycles, mopeds, and ATV vehicles are currently defined and regulated by state law and must continue to follow state rules for those kinds of vehicles. Nebraska state law does not allow ATV vehicles on city streets unless a city passes an ordinance to explicitly authorize ATV use. Nebraska state law places additional restrictions on what cities can allow in terms of ATV use in city limits. Similarly, Nebraska state law places restrictions on what cities may allow for UTVs and golf carts. Members of the Ordinance Committee noted at the meeting Thursday night that they will be turning to discussions of ordinances for UTVs and other alternative vehicles covered by state law as their next task. Members noted that they were waiting to see if one of the state bills introduced this legislative session that would have changed state law for UTVs was going to pass before passing an ordinance for UTVs that might be more restrictive than necessary. Now that it is highly likely that neither state bill will pass, members of the Ordinance committee indicated that they will turn their attention to developing a proposal for city rules for these vehicles.