Police: Fleeing juvenile adds to list of problems with underage riders
by Andrew Adams ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- An underage rider fled police on an e-motorcycle in Sandy, Utah.
- Lt. Jason Nielsen highlights increasing issues with underage e-motorcycle riders on streets.
- A new law mandates e-motorcycle riders be 16+, licensed, and follow traffic laws.
SANDY — Police said an underage driver on an e-motorcycle recently fled from officers, highlighting an increasing number of problems they are encountering with kids and e-motorcycles on city streets.
According to Lt. Jason Nielsen, an officer spotted the underage rider traveling illegally in the roadway on Wednesday near the intersection of Beetdigger Boulevard and Sego Lily Drive.
"(The officer) tried to stop it and it fled from us, at which point we were able to keep eyes on the vehicle and the juvenile," Nielsen told KSL during an interview Thursday.
Nielsen said officers tracked and contained the driver near the western edge of Dimple Dell Regional Park, where body camera footage obtained exclusively by KSL captured the eventual apprehension.
"Hey, kid, come over here!" an officer said in the video. "We have cops at every exit. You're not going to escape from us."
The video showed the rider powering the e-motorcycle over to the officer and stopping.
"So, what's going on with you fleeing from us, dude?" the officer said. "You know this is a felony, right? This is a felony, what you're doing, dude."
Nielsen said almost daily, the department is seeing problems with underage riders and e-motorcycles, including another case recently where a woman attempted to confront a couple of teens about improper use at Granite Park.
"She attempted to stop one of the juveniles on the e-motorcycle, which then collided with her, causing some serious injuries to her," Nielsen said.
On May 6, a new law went into effect enacting multiple changes related to e-bikes and e-motorcycles.
The changes classified an electric motorcycle as a vehicle that can travel faster than 20 mph on electric power and has more than 750 watts of power. The law also required that drivers must be at least 16 years old, must possess a valid driver's license with a motorcycle endorsement and must wear a Department of Transportation-approved helmet if under the age of 21.
Under the rules, e-motorcycles must also be registered and insured and drivers must obey all traffic laws.
Police said e-bikes are prohibited on city sidewalks and e-motorcycles are barred from pathways in parks and pedestrian-only areas.
Officials told KSL they planned to install signs next week in park areas like Dimple Dell, prohibiting e-motorcycles in those spaces.
"I don't believe a lot of the parents are aware these are actually considered a motor vehicle," Nielsen said. "If we do stop one of these juveniles or anybody on this vehicle and they don't have a motorcycle endorsement, they don't have a license plate, registration, insurance — any of that — it can be state taxed and impounded."
Nielsen said officers are doing their best to educate families as they contact them, and ultimately, they are concerned about safety.
"The bottom line is we don't want anyone hurt or killed on any of these e-motorcycles," Nielsen said. "It's extremely dangerous. The reason why the laws are put into place is because of all the injuries that have been sustained from these motor vehicles."
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Related topics
Zero FatalitiesOutdoorsSalt Lake CountyUtah
Andrew Adams
Andrew Adams is an award-winning journalist and reporter for KSL. For two decades, he's covered a variety of stories for KSL, including major crime, politics and sports.