Mo-peds multiply
Classes on the way as laws are enforced

As mo-peds proliferate, so do concerns about their safety.

After two serious accidents this summer, Fort Wayne Police earlier this month announced they would start enforcing laws requiring “motorized bicycle” riders to be at least 15 years old and to wear helmets if they're younger than 18.

Now an organized effort to teach people how to safely ride mo-peds and scooters may be coming. Jay Jackson, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Toward Education) of Indiana, says the group hopes to offer scooter classes in 2009.

Locally, one of the many merchants who sells mo-peds wants to help get the message out to riders, too.

Joe Runyon sells inexpensive Chinese mo-peds - with 49cc engines, which he says he sets up to go no faster than 25 mph - and small scooters, with 150cc engines.

He's sponsoring a mo-ped run, loosely styled after motorcyclists' gatherings, Sept. 27.

Besides providing food, drink and prizes, he wants to get two messages across to mo-ped riders: “Obey the law and watch out for other people,” Runyon said.

Runyon says young people should get training for riding scooters, but he's not a certified instructor.

He said he'll have to settle for distributing copies of the Bureau of Motor Vehicle's “Motorcycle Operator's Manual” during the mo-ped run.

That's where ABATE could come in next year. ABATE has a longstanding relationship with state government: The state collects a fee for rider education from motorcyclists and contracts with ABATE to teach intensive classes at locations throughout the state.

Jackson said the group is still working with the state Department of Education to review scooter-rider education programs.

But if rider training for scooters follows the same pattern as ABATE motorcyclist instruction, it will draw heavily on national programs developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

The foundation's scooter curriculum is a half-day program that touches on a number of safety points including the importance of wearing protective gear, licensing and insurance requirements, controls, maintenance, pre-ride inspections, anticipating problems, and defensive driving.

On courses in large parking lots, scooter students learn techniques to improve their braking, cornering, U-turns and riding on poor road surfaces.

Despite the prevalence of “mo-ped” and “scooter” in language, Jackson points out that state law recognizes only “motorized bicycles” and “motorcycles.”

For 40 years, motorized bicycles - with 50cc or smaller engines, going no faster than 25 mph and operated by someone with a driver's license or a state identification card - have been largely ignored by authorities, but Jackson said that is likely to change.

More motorized bicycles and more deaths and serious injuries in crashes mean the state is likely to take another look at how these little vehicles are regulated.

“It is likely there will be an effort this session to introduce legislation that will require registration (that is, buying a license plate) of these vehicles, which will at least provide some accountability,” Jackson said.

Mo-peds multiply | The News-Sentinel - Fort Wayne IN