AzMotorNews

City halls from Glendale to Tempe are hearing from residents who are outraged about the noise from these fast new scooters. Motorists are terrified of running over kids who tend to dart through traffic on the toys, with sometimes deadly results.

Tempted to ban them outright, city officials also hear from young people and parents who like the convenience of non-car transportation and sense the pending oppression of more "Nanny State" regulation.

"Please let kids be kids," urged Shannon Hamilton, a Scottsdale mother who attended one of a series of public forums, which will be concluded Wednesday. "I think it gives them a wonderful opportunity as young adults to be responsible."

Her statement provokes barks from the normally quiet subdivisions that stretch across the Valley. Responsibility, they argue, is the quality most lacking in scooter-users.

"For over five years we have had real quality-of-life issues in the Twelve Oaks community," said Chandler resident Greg Dutton, who sits on a task force trying to determine whether the city should ban or further regulate the vehicles.

Dutton cited excess noise, erratic driving, and near collisions with automobiles. He even claimed that youngsters have sped off on Go-Peds they have stolen from garages.

"I still hold these things have no place on the streets," Dutton said.

The issue festered for years, until Phoenix issued a ban on motorized skateboards and their cousins in December. The move gave neighbors new impetus to reconsider the issue. An El Mirage ban took effect Sunday. Tucson has banned them, and Glendale, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale are hosting forums to test the public temperature. One of the Scottsdale hearings is 6:30 tonight at Mustang Library, 10101 N. 90th St. Goodyear loaded on stringent new regulations last month.

The act of drafting regulations is not as easy as it sounds.

"You would not believe the research involved," said Glendale police Officer Joan Campbell, who sits on her city's task force. She is desperate to get feedback at a series of public meetings that begin April 21 and end May 4.

One problem is just defining what the devices are. The once-lowly skateboard and scooter have proliferated into new generations of vehicles, with plenty of accessories to gas them up. It was enough for Phoenix to just give up.

"We tried the regulation approach for many years, but it was just getting out of hand," said Phoenix City Councilman Dave Siebert, who was instrumental in bringing about the ban.

"Every few months, they (the manufacturers) would come up with something new. So if you tried to write a law to regulate or ban one thing, they'd just come up with something else."

Most regulations describe motorized play vehicles as a fueled device that is not fast enough to meet the state codes for motor vehicle regulations.

Motor vehicles must have turn signals, lights and other accoutrements for traveling the public roads. And most cities require the users to be 14 or older, wear helmets and closed-toe shoes and stay off of public roads.

People who rely on motorized wheelchairs or mobility assistance devices do not need to worry about the new laws. Nor do parents of very young children with battery-powered toys.

"Somebody driving their Barbie truck is not going to be stopped by the police," El Mirage Police Chief Richard Yost said.

The gulf between Barbie cars and real motor vehicles is huge, officials said.

For the people riding them, the devices offer lots of benefits: transportation for the carless, freedom for youngsters without licenses and just plain fun.

"Motorized vehicles are a great alternative to cars," said Joseph Bergdoll, a 14-year-old Scottsdale resident.

Bergdoll has worked for months to earn the $500 needed to buy his first scooter this week.

"I love them," he said. "They're just fun to ride. I like anything that moves."

It's a different story for residents who have to listen to them.

Bill Wrightson and his wife launched a so-far unsuccessful attempt to get the Go-Peds banned in Gilbert after one rider buzzed a homeowners association barbecue. Even the band leader at the barbecue was ready to throw down his wand, said Wrightson, who got in a confrontation with the child's mother.

Right after that incident, "Citizens Against Motorized Scooters in Gilbert" was born.

Wrightson and his wife, along with thousands of residents, have found the one characteristic that distinguishes scooters from noisy toys: They can be deadly.

"The noise is one thing," Wrightson said. "That's annoying. But you can be annoyed by your neighbor's weed-whacker. It's a safety thing. It's the traveling between your car and my car. They're darting out wherever you are. If I hit a kid on a Go-Ped, that affects the rest of my life."

Drivers have reason to worry. In 2003, 13-year-old Wade Hileman was killed while riding a Go-Ped in Scottsdale and a 1999 death on a motorized skateboard created lifelong misery for the Phoenix parents of 11-year-old Scotty Viesselmann.

Serious injuries are not uncommon.

El Mirage police have stopped riders in their 40's and children as young as 10.

"Even the adults don't watch the traffic," Yost said.

The ban has been a relief for Phoenix police.

"Right after the ban was passed in the city of Phoenix, it was almost eerie how quiet our streets were," said police Officer Terry Sills.

"Don't get me wrong, some people aren't happy about the ban, but the vast majority of people are happy with it - those who understand how unsafe those toys were to drive on the street."

Reporters Jahna Berry, Edythe Jensen, Justin Juozapavicius, Charles Kelly, David Madrid and Meghan Moravcik contributed to this article.

Reach the reporter at lesley.wright@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6883.