Peppered with complaints about the way some operators of motor scooters or mopeds behave on District roadways, the D.C. Council is considering a bill that would ensure that rental moped fleets are registered, and that dealers inform buyers of the registration required for the vehicles.
At a D.C. Council committee roundtable Thursday, Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto said her office has received an overwhelming number of complaints about moped operators. The complaints range from operators riding on the sidewalk, “sometimes undermining safety of pedestrians, riding in bike lanes, not having license plates, not using helmets,” she said.
Pinto and council member Charles Allen, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, were quick to point out that they didn’t want to single out moped users but safety was their top concern.
“We cannot demonize one mode of travel,” Allen told WTOP after the roundtable. Instead he said, the way vehicles — all vehicles — are operated is what has “got to get better.”
Among the issues raised at the roundtable was the number of unregistered mopeds on the streets of D.C.
D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles director Gabriel Robinson said there have been enforcement and education efforts, including some from D.C. police.
Referring to the number of food delivery workers who rely on mopeds to earn a living, Robinson said part of the problem is an “underground” issue, due to the immigration status of many of the drivers. It’s an issue, he said, “that we’ve got to find some way to kind of push to the surface.”
“I do know that MPD is planning to do another round of ‘Operation Ride Right’ next week,” Robinson also told council members.
In written testimony, Abel Nunez, executive director of CARECEN, a group that works within the Latino community and was founded by Central American refugees, stated moped operators should be accountable, but that many of the immigrants who work in the delivery business “are new to the country and are still learning how to navigate the system.”
“We must make efforts to also educate them on their responsibilities and facilitate the process for registration,” Nunez wrote.
Robinson told the panel D.C.’s “pathway” to licensing and registration “whether you’re a U.S. citizen or not” is, in his words, “the most liberal pathway in this region, by far.”
Public comment on the bill remains open until July 25. Allen said the council will work on the proposal over the summer and then would “look to move something forward this fall.”
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