Barrington Police Chief Michael Correia said residents should expect a measured response when it comes to enforcement of the newly passed ordinance amendment that prohibits anyone from riding an electric scooter or electric bicycle on a sidewalk in town. 

The amendment (see associated article) classifies e-scooters and e-bikes similarly to gas-powered motorcycles, which are already banned from driving on sidewalks and town-owned property, such as ballfields. The Barrington Town Council passed the ordinance change at its Oct. 5 meeting. 

Chief Correia said local police officers will be using their judgment when enforcing the law. He said sometimes officers will issue warnings and other times — for cases involving crashes, unruly violators or uncooperative individuals — violators may be issued summonses.

“We’re going to do the same thing that we’ve done…” Chief Correia said. 

The chief encouraged local parents to discuss the situation with their children. “This is about the rules of the road,” he said, “and whether their child under the age of 16 should be on an e-scooter.”

Chief Correia said children under 16 are expected to follow the corresponding traffic laws when operating an e-scooter: “All those safety rules that generally kids under 16 don’t know.”

Chief Correia said he continues to work with legislators on providing new laws to govern the use of electric scooters. He said he has attended two micro-mobility meetings at the Rhode Island Statehouse. Chief Correia said the effort is rooted in trying to keep children safe.

“I am really worried someone is going to get hit by a car,” he said. “We’re trying to reduce the number of scooters on the roadway.”