Changes may be coming soon to Lake Forest’s e-scooter regulations as city officials consider safety concerns amid the rapidly growing popularity of the devices.
After a brief debate at the Sept. 5 meeting, the City Council directed its staff to explore ways to put e-scooter and e-bike use under the same regulations as the city’s current bicycle ordinance.
“City staff is preparing language that will provide the city enforcement options for regulating use of e-scooters and e-bikes within the Central Business District,” city spokeswoman Dana Olson explained in an email. “Since the current bike ordinance was developed over 50 years old, it didn’t anticipate these types of electric conveyances and needs to be updated to reference the current technology.”
Under the city’s current bicycle ordinance, riders are required to walk bikes on city sidewalks, give pedestrians right of way and requires bicycle riders on streets to have a motor vehicle license, according to Alderman Jim Preschlack, 3rd.
He advocated for the staff to formally the review the situation and the possible update to the law.
“Our city prides itself in making fact-based decisions through a thoughtful and deliberate process to implement ordinances to address issues like this,” said Preschlack, who was serving as mayor pro tem at the City Council as Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack was absent.
Preschlack added he thought would be a “prudent first step” to sync up e-scooters and bicycle under the same ordinance.
Alderman Joseph Waldeck, 1st, also called for the city to take some action.
“Whatever it is we need to move forward quickly, it is taking too long,” he said.
However, Alderman Ara Goshgarian, 3rd, expressed some reservations about putting the e-scooters and bicycles in the same category.
“I’m having a really difficult time equating an e-scooter that does 25-30 miles per hour with a bicycle. I think the end result of a vehicle traveling that fast can be significantly different with a more catastrophic outcome than a bicycle,” Goshgarian said.
Olson noted the City Council is scheduled to discuss the proposed ordinance changes at their Sept. 18 meeting, where they would have the option to update the current laws.
The city does not have e-scooter laws in place now as there are no state laws regarding e-scooter ridership and the city generally follows state statutes, Preschlack said.
The debate comes amid the nationwide increase use of e-scooters and e-bikes over the last five years and local leaders believe there are now more e-scooter riders in the area.
Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Michael Lange said there have been two recent incidents between cars and e-scooters in the city, but they did not lead to major injuries. Separately, Olson acknowledged the city has received reports from citizens and businesses concerned about the possibility of collisions.
“We have been hearing about it and we are trying to be responsive to our residents,” Olson said.
(Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joanna Rolek said earlier this e-scooter usage was a concern for some downtown businesses.)
At a June Chamber of Commerce meeting, Tack and Lake Bluff Village President Regis Charlot addressed the issue, corresponding with an ongoing public safety campaign involving the city, and CROYA (Committee Representing Our Young Adults) and the two Lake Forest school districts.
“We have been working with the city to provide scooter safety tips to our school families since April,” District 67 and District 115 Director of Safety and Security Charles Walsh wrote in an email. “Most recently, we have included safety reminders, parent/guardian resources, and the City’s new scooter safety video (featuring the Chicago Bears mascot, Staley) in our school newsletters and on our website. The city also painted reminders to stop and look both ways on sidewalks and intersections near our school buildings. We hope that families throughout the community will take this opportunity to talk about what it means to ride a scooter or bike safely. We will continue to partner with the city to get the word out, but we know that parents and guardians have the most influence on their kids.”
The city is advocating e-scooter riders should wear helmets, they should look both ways when going through an intersection and scooters should be walked through when in the central business district. In addition, there should only be one person per scooter, ear buds or phones should not be used while riding and someone aboard a scooter should announce their presence or sound a bell when passing a pedestrian.
The city will have a community service officer along Deerpath Road and other prominent traffic locations before and after school encouraging safe usage.
“We are trying to do what we can to help keep Lake Forest a safe place for everybody,” Olson said.
