Council tables proposed e‑scooter ordinance after staff seeks edits following safety incidents

Mayor Edwards convened the May 28 Clive City Council meeting and the body voted 5‑0 to table the second reading of proposed Ordinance 1178 to the June 11 meeting to allow staff time to incorporate further edits.

Police Chief Rayberg, presenting the ordinance, said staff circulated a redlined revision and had met with the De Mo Street Collective and Bike Iowa for input. Rayberg told the council the substantive intent of the ordinance would remain but that some definitions and equipment/age‑restriction language required reordering and clarifying. "We use some definitions that needed to be put in the right place," he said, and noted additions for class‑3 bicycle equipment and related age restrictions.

Rayberg said the urgency stems in part from three recent accidents involving e‑scooter‑type devices in Clive over the previous eight days, each producing serious injuries including broken bones to a 13‑year‑old, an 18‑year‑old and a 32‑year‑old. He described one crash in which a rider operating a high‑powered scooter ‘‘probably doing about 30 or 40 miles an hour’’ failed to stop at a red light and collided with a car; that device, he said, appeared to be a 6,000‑watt scooter that exceeds the 750‑watt threshold staff would treat as a motor vehicle.

Staff recommended tabling the item until June 11 so the final language could be incorporated. Councilmember motion and a second were recorded and the motion to table carried unanimously. The clerk recorded the motion as approved 5‑0.

The chief emphasized the ordinance is not intended to restrict ordinary bicycles: "We are not restricting bicycles in any way," he said, noting bicycles remain legal on streets and sidewalks where allowed by law. The council did not take final action on the ordinance and expects the revised language and a continued second‑reading or first‑reading decision at the June 11 meeting.