CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte city council member Larken Egelston is demanding Queen City leaders start regulating battery-powered scooters as soon as possible.
Egelston voiced his concerns about the trendy mode of transportation after witnessing two people riding the scooters on I-277 just days ago without helmets.
"I slowed down enough to yell at them to get off 277," he said. "Of course they laughed."
The councilman spoke at Monday's council meeting following the Charlotte Department of Transportation's discussion on plans to make sure everyone feels safe.
"Someone will die on an e-scooter before the end of this calendar year," Egelston said after the presentation. "We ought to be able to say we are going to regulate and enforce things like people riding on sidewalks in uptown Charlotte, people riding on anything that's over 35-mile-an-hour roads. Whatever it is, there's got to be a couple of things put in place very, very quickly."
The city's bike and scooter ride-sharing trial program ends in October. Egleston said he wants to see new rules put in place by then at the latest, preferably sooner.
People took more than 3,200 trips on scooters last month alone, according to the city's numbers.