Dallasites cruising through Deep Ellum via scooter will want to pay special attention to not violate the city’s scooter and traffic ordinances. Dallas police have begun ticketing scooter riders who are riding on the sidewalk, piling on an extra passenger, or ignoring red lights.
Posts about the enforcement—including photos of individuals getting ticketed—began circulating Deep Ellum Facebook groups last night after an officer posted that he’d be “conducting scooter enforcement” Tuesday evening.
The laws aren’t new—and affect downtown, Uptown, the Cedars, and Deep Ellum—but police haven’t previously made enforcing them a priority. During a meeting last week between police and community members that was heavily represented by Deep Ellum, Deputy Chief Thomas Castro said police would ramp up scooter enforcement in response to growing crowds and criminal activity. We’ve reached out to the department for further comment and will update when we hear back.
Citations will be issued for the following, per Ofc. Ryan Lowman on Facebook:
1)Scooters may not be operated on the sidewalk with in central business district which includes Deep Ellum
2) A child under the age of 17 years old must wear a helmet
3) scooters may not transport additional passengers unless the scooter is equipped to do so
4) traffic laws apply such as traveling the correct direction on one-way streets, stopping at stop signs and lights, yielding row to vehicles and pedestrians when needed
5) scooters may not be operated on multi use trails or park
