http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/featured/schoodic-scooter-craze-raises-issues Schoodic scooter craze raises issues July 23, 2015 by Jacqueline Weaver
[image / Jacqueline Weaver http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/07/scooters-jw00031.jpg Kathryn Balteff assembled and sold 44 electric scooters for a family friend, Keith Young. She also picked one up for herself. Now owners are being told they need a permit or license to operate them and must insure and register them as mopeds. ] WINTER HARBOR — Back in May, retired boat captain Keith Young had a chance to buy 44 electric scooters from a landlord in Biddeford who ended up with them in lieu of rent. Thinking the whisper quiet, no emission scooters would be the perfect thing for the ecologically minded Schoodic Peninsula, Young got a good price and had the scooters shipped to his Quonset hut just outside the entrance to Acadia National Park. “They’re neat: no emissions, no sounds,” Young said. “I thought everyone would like the idea. They’re environmentally friendly and I thought they would do well in the campground.” The new Schoodic Woods Campground is scheduled to open Sept. 4 and will be operated by the National Park Service. A friend of Young’s, Kathryn Balteff, offered to assemble the scooters — which were made in China — and sell them for $250 apiece. Balteff added the accessories, such as baskets, cargo bins, pedals and fenders. Within six days all the scooters were sold. “A few older kids got them, but it was mostly folks who were just getting them for themselves,” Balteff said. “Keith just wanted something fun for the community. It was great fun. It’s nice to see people smile.” Soon the brightly colored scooters were seen zipping up and down the roads of the Schoodic Peninsula. One person who spotted them along with everyone else was Police Chief Mike Walsh, who saw a few children riding them. “Now they’re everywhere,” said Walsh of the machines that are so quiet you can’t hear someone coming up behind you. Four or five new scooter owners asked Walsh if they needed to register their new vehicles. He contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles to find out how the scooters should be classified. “The following is what’s required,” Walsh posted on the Winter Harbor Police Department’s Facebook page July 15 [ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Winter-Harbor-Police-Department/125090847516147?fref=ts ]. “They MUST be registered as mopeds and the operator must have a license or permit.” The DMV told Walsh the vehicles must be registered as mopeds because the wheels are 12 inches. If the wheels were less than 10 inches in diameter they would be considered scooters, which do not have to be registered or inspected. The registration fee, according to the state’s DMV website, is $9, and the owner must show proof of insurance. In addition, DMV rules stipulate that a moped driver has to be 16 with a driver’s license or a learner permit. Or, a 16-year-old can choose to get just a moped license, which requires passing a written exam. Walsh’s posting was followed by a volley of Facebook reactions. Some thanked Walsh. Others wondered why he didn’t have other things to keep him busy. Walsh, who monitors social media, quickly joined one Facebook thread saying he had no intention of doing anything drastic, such as issuing tickets. “We’re not that heartless. We will inform the people and give them a chance to register them,” he said. “If they continually ignore it, then we have to do something.” Walsh added later that he is not faulting Young, but he thought the issue needed a bit more research. “I’m concerned about people’s safety and about the liability for the town if it is known we were aware of it and didn’t do anything about it,” he said. The other issue is finding insurance. Some say the mopeds are covered under their house insurance. Others say it’s a Catch 22. Paul Tracy, owner of the Winter Harbor Agency, said he was approached by some new moped owners seeking insurance, but he can’t find any coverage. “We have three carriers that we deal with that write insurance for mopeds,” he said. “They said those aren’t mopeds. They have a serial number, but they don’t have a VIN (vehicle identification number). They consider them electric bikes.” “I don’t know where to go with this other than to get a ruling from the state,” Tracy said. “I don’t know how to fix this.” It could be that new owners who don’t want to jump through all those hoops might decide just to buzz around on the scooters on their personal property. In any case, Walsh feels like he is being treated like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Even his new bride was sticking up for him on Facebook. Young is not happy either. What started out as a nice thing for the town has become something more problematic and he’s not sure what to make of it all. In any event, he has no intentions of opening an electric scooter business any time soon. “This was a one-shot deal,” he said. 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