MARSHALL — Bikes and scooters with electric motors are becoming a more popular way to get around. But at the same time, Marshall Police have been hearing a growing number of safety concerns about young people riding them.

“The last few weeks, I have received so many comments and complaints, and heard so many frustrations from other people within our community,” Marshall Public Safety Director Jim Marshall said this week, as he spoke to the Marshall City Council.

Marshall said the MPD is working to try and educate people about Minnesota’s age and safety restrictions on motorized scooters and e-bikes. Parents should be aware that it is illegal for kids under the age of 12 to ride a motorized scooter, and riders should be wearing helmets, he said. Scooters are also not allowed on sidewalks.

When it comes to scooter safety, he said, “Age appropriateness matters. Wearing a helmet matters.”

Marshall spoke to the city council earlier this week, at the request of council members. Council members Lozinski and Craig Schafer both said they had seen youths in Marshall riding fast on the sidewalk on motorized scooters. Most were not wearing helmets, Schafer said.

“I think parents think that it’s more logical and safer for their children to be on the sidewalk on those (scooters), and that is not true,” Schafer said.

Marshall said council members weren’t alone in their concerns. E-bike and scooter-related injuries are a concern that’s affected people across Minnesota. The Minnesota Hospital Association reported e-bike crashes sent 466 people to clinics and emergency rooms in Minnesota last spring and summer. In the same time period, there were also 639 people treated for injuries from e-scooter accidents.

Last week, Marshall Police reported that a 13-year-old rider was seriously injured in a scooter accident near Independence Park.

At the city council meeting, Marshall went over some of the Minnesota state laws on motorized scooters, pedal-assisted e-bikes, and motorized bicycles.

“All these devices are legal. The issue is really about how they’re being used and who’s using them,” he said.

Scooters and e-bikes are legal for minors of a certain age to ride, and motorized scooters and e-bikes do not require a license or registration. However, state law says children must be at least 12 years old to ride a motorized scooter, and at least 15 to ride an e-bike. Scooter and e-bike riders under age 18 must wear a helmet.

Under state law, motorized scooters are not allowed on the sidewalk, Marshall said. They are allowed on streets, trails and on private property with the permission of the property owner. On the streets, scooters and e-bikes follow the same traffic laws as bicycles.

Under Minnesota laws, e-bikes that have a pedal-assisted motor may go on the sidewalk. However, motorized bicycles, which have a throttle instead of pedals, are not allowed on sidewalks.

In addition, Marshall said, scooters and e-bikes should not be ridden in Marshall’s downtown business district. That’s an area that includes part of Main Street and surrounding streets – from West Lyon Street to Saratoga Street, and from First Street to Fifth Street.

Marshall said the MPD has been trying to spread the word about scooter and e-bike safety.

“We’ve done a number of different things with the Police Department,” Marshall said.

Marshall Police have put out information through events like the city’s annual Bike Safety Extravaganza, as well as on social media and the city website. Marshall said he will also be talking to different community groups in the near future.

“We’ve also increased our efforts in terms of enforcement,” Marshall said. “We’ve made quite a few stops.” For example, officers stopped and talked with about 25 youth in one day, encouraging them to walk their scooters home and to wear helmets, Marshall told the Independent this week.

“The troubling thing is that it’s not as easy as you think trying to stop somebody on a scooter when you’re in a marked squad car,” Marshall told city council members.

For safety reasons, it’s not always possible to stop and talk with a person improperly riding a scooter or e-bike, he said.

Marshall said police were trying to approach the scooter issue from an education and safety standpoint.

“What it really comes down to, is we want to educate parents, number one on what these devices are and what they really do, and the laws surrounding them,” Marshall said. “I don’t think parents know how powerful these scooters are.”