The city council in a northwest Iowa city that draws tens of thousands of summertime visitors has adopted new rules for “personal transportation devices” like electric scooters and electric bicycles.
Gregg Owens is the city administrator and the city attorney in Spirit Lake. “Some cities, believe it or not, throughout the state have chosen to do nothing,” Owens said. “Now, they’re few and far between, but almost every city has chosen to, as I’ve put it, ‘fill in the blanks’ that the state law really doesn’t make clear.”
The ordinance that takes effect in Spirit Lake later this week requires anyone under the age of 15 to wear a helmet while operating a scooter or e-bike, plus there are speed limits for the devices. “The ones that can be operated on sidewalks, those are limited to 10 miles an hour,” Owens said.
E-bikes and electric scooters are only allowed on streets in Spirit Lake with a speed limit of 25 miles an hour or lower. The devices are banned in city parks. “The police department will be working with someone to put together an informational video that we can share through the city,” Owens said. “It could also be shared through the schools and, of course, they’ve been doing a lot of education on this issue.”
The Dickinson County trail system has uniform regulations for personal transportaton devices that are part of Spirit Lake’s rules for the trails that pass through the city limits.
