West University Place officials want to better define which vehicles can be used on city sidewalks and which can only be used on the street.
What happened
After a lengthy discussion April 13, West U City Council unanimously agreed that the city should tighten the language to define which types of vehicles could be used on the sidewalk. However, after hearing some confusion from the police chief on how vehicles would be defined, council members decided to delay voting on the ordinance until there is further clarification.
Some details
The proposed ordinance would have included banning e-scooters and toy vehicles, such as a Barbie Jeep, on city streets, unless crossing at a crosswalk. The update also further clarified the definition of “self-propelled devices” as:
- Electric personal assistive mobility devices
- Golf carts
- Electric bicycles
- Motor-assisted skateboard
- Off-highway vehicle
- Small electric ride-on toy vehicle
- Motor-assisted scooter (e-scooters)
- Neighborhood electric vehicles
Violation of the ordinance could result in fines of up to $2,000, if passed.
What they are saying
Council members and residents said they had concerns about e-bikes and how they are regulated. Resident John Robertson said he does not want an ordinance that would ban or “overly restrict” electric vehicular devices.
“They’re rapidly becoming a practical, efficient, necessary part of how people move, especially in communities like ours that border the [Texas] Medical Center,” Robertson said. “These devices are not a luxury, they’re practical solutions to a real infrastructure constraint.”
Robertson added that most of the accidents involving e-bikes happen in areas where the speed limits exceed a bike’s speed, and within West U, “the speed limits are not that high.”
However, in an emailed statement, resident Margaret Salem said e-bikes are a safety risk and should be banned from the sidewalk. She also said she and her young son were nearly hit by one.
“At a minimum, the city should consider implementing stronger regulations, such as an age requirement of 16 years of age to operate these motorized devices,” Salem said.
Council member Kalie Rainsberger said the behavior she observed is often from younger residents.
“When I see people on them, it's adolescents, it’s rarely adults going to work,” Rainsberger said. “I support an adult being able to use these things, but last weekend I saw someone doing figure eights around the two softball fields, and there were dozens of people he was going around.”
Also of note
The city is limited to what it can regulate based on state laws. Police Chief Gary Ratliff said state law would allow the city to prohibit e-bike operations on a sidewalk and establish speed limits. However, the city cannot prohibit using them on a street or where they are permitted.
Rules with e-scooters are different, he said. E-scooters can be prohibited from operating on a street, highway or sidewalk.
Council member Clay Brett said he believes that e-scooters and e-bikes should be treated the same.
“E-bikes are the most pervasive issue,” Brett said. “Some regulation is needed. The e-bikes are really similar to e-scooters. It’s not clear to me that the logic on e-bikes wouldn’t apply to e-scooters.”
Stay tuned
Officials said they will come back with a “cleaned-up version” of the proposed ordinance at the April 27 meeting, with clearer language on the types of vehicles that will be included in the ordinance and where they can be used.
