Photo Credit: Savannah Cole
A group of Athens-Clarke County commissioners said on Thursday that the grace period is over for Bird scooter users who do not abide by state and local law.
State law bans people over 12 from driving any vehicle on the sidewalk in most areas. County ordinances prohibit parking on sidewalks and driveways, in front of alleys and driveways or in the middle of the street.
The Legislative Review Committee—chairman Jerry NeSmith, Allison Wright, Sharyn Dickerson and Mariah Parker—were scheduled to discuss motorized vehicles on public property, such as golf carts, scooters, mopeds and Segways. However, their attention quickly honed in on how to address the new dockless electric scooters in Athens.
ACC Police Chief Scott Freeman said the department has been given verbal warnings to Bird users who were not abiding by state or ordinance law. At the committee’s request, Freeman said ACCPD will begin ticketing.
“Bird scooters are creating a lot of concern. Our concern, from the police side, is the Birds are everywhere. They were dropped here without any notification… It didn’t give us an opportunity to prepare,” Freeman said.
The committee—which recommends changes in legislation to the full commission—agreed that further legal research will have to be done before more decisions are made, and ultimately did not take any action.
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