ELMHURST — If you can't beat 'em, legalize 'em.
Two Queens lawmakers have introduced bills to lift the ban on electric scooters that are currently illegal in New York — in order to regulate the motorbikes that remain ubiquitous on city streets, they said.
State Sen. Jose Peralta and Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas have introduced bills that would allow scooters to use the streets as long as drivers have a valid license from the Department of Motor Vehicles, insurance, and are included on a registry they want the DMV to establish and maintain.
“It is evident that these motor-driven cycles, these scooters, have become part of the fabric of small businesses throughout the city," Peralta said, adding that the scooters are popular among food delivery workers.
"This legislation is about the reality of regulating what has become standard."
Peralta's bill would amend the current vehicle law to permit the scooters on highways, allowing them to be regulated.
The move would ultimately improve safety for pedestrians and other drivers, Simotas said.
“Young families and seniors must navigate streets and sidewalks threatened by motorized scooters ungoverned by any safety standards or accountability,” she said.
Peralta added that the drivers often go up on sidewalks and drive the wrong way down streets.
If the bills are passed in the Senate and Assembly, and later by the governor, drivers would have to pay fines between $25 and $100 per infraction.
Electric bikes were banned in the city in 2004. The law was updated in 2013 to stiffen the penalty for those caught using the bikes, but the new state bills aims to regulate the scooters as opposed to just enforcing the rules, the lawmakers said.
The DMV did not respond to a request for comment.
