Sen. Marko Liias’ (D–Lynnwood) bill SB 5751 seeks to provide regulatory certainty for motorized foot scooters. The bill would require that scooters not exceed 15 miles per hour or be operated by persons under the age of sixteen. The bill provides that local jurisdictions may:

• Restrict the maximum speed of the devices in pedestrian areas;
• Assess penalties for moving and parking violations; and
• Regulate share scooter businesses by requiring reasonable fees and indemnification, designating staging zones, requiring data sharing, and more.

However, the bill also limits local jurisdictions’ authority to regulate the vehicles. The bill prescribes that a local authority may not impose any unduly restrictive requirement on a scooter share operator, including that a jurisdiction may not apply more restrictive regulations to users of scooter share vehicles than privately-owned scooters or bicycles.

AWC has concerns that the current version of the bill limits city authority to provide effective regulation and we will continue to engage on this bill.

Dates to remember

A public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, February 14 before the Senate Transportation Committee at 3:30 pm.