AzMotorNews

EL MIRAGE - City Council members have made it official: motorized play vehicles are banned from all public property.

That includes any city streets, sidewalks, parks, trails and bike paths.

The new ordinance, passed Thursday, takes effect April 11. It also prohibits the motor-powered toys from private property without the property owner's written permission.

"I'm pleased," said El Mirage Police Chief Richard Yost, who lobbied for the changes. "I'm not anti-toys and anti-kids. I love kids, I've got my own."

"This is just a safety issue. I'm worried about the possibility of kids getting hurt."

Yost said officers will issue warnings until the ban date and will be delivering fliers to all area schools.

The ordinance also makes it illegal for merchants to sell such vehicles without disclosing the city's new law to potential buyers.

Yost said that while some young residents were riding their toys appropriately, those who were engaging in dangerous behavior made the ban necessary.

"We get people calling us almost on a daily basis," Yost said. "It's not just one or two of these motorized toys - the number has grown dramatically."

If the warnings don't work, Yost said, police officers will issue citations to the riders. Their parents will be responsible for those tickets, under to the new law.

Phoenix banned the motor-powered toys in December. Other cities, including Glendale and Scottsdale, are planning a series of meetings to gauge public input on similar bans.

* Link to this original article at;

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0314wvemban14.html

* * * *

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------