Photo by Yonas Hassen

A D.C. Council bill debated yesterday would issue sweeping new rules on District residents who ride mopeds and motor scooters, requiring them to buy insurance, register with the Department of Motor Vehicles and—in some cases—obtain motorcycle licenses.

The bill, which was the topic of yesterday’s hearing of the Council’s Environment, Public Works and Transportation, was requested earlier this month by Mayor Vince Gray in an attempt to streamline current vehicle classifications. The existing system easily convolutes motor scooters and motorcycles, with owners of larger scooters sometimes enduring frequent run-ins with the police for not obeying motorcycle rules.

But the regulations discussed yesterday had some scooter enthusiasts in the John A. Wilson Building disagreeing with D.C. legislators, The Washington Examiner reports. The proposed rules would mandate that all scooter riders wear helmets and goggles, prohibit all scooters from being parked on the sidewalk and require all vehicles to be registered with the District. Furthermore, owners of scooters capable of going faster than 25 miles per hour would be required to pass the DMV’s motorcycle examination.

Some riders, however, say D.C.’s traffic patterns make it foolish to ride a scooter that goes slower than 25 miles per hour. “It’s too dangerous. Vehicles with that engine cannot get out of the way of traffic,” one rider told the Examiner.

In their current form, the new scooter regulations would put D.C. on par with Maryland, which recently tightened its regulations to require that motor scooters of all sizes and speeds be registered, titled and insured.