By:Jason Scheer
But what she describes as the proliferation of motor scooters in the Baldwin area has wrecked her once idyllic weekends. "The neighborhood used to be quiet," said Marie, who has a grown daughter. "But these scooters are so loud, it shatters the mood of the neighborhood over the weekend."
Marie, who lives off Grand Avenue, claims she has heard the roar of scooters outside her window as late as 10 p.m. She has considered talking to the riders, who are mostly children and teenagers, but she doesn't think it would do any good. "There's nothing that I can do," she said.
As the summer goes on, Marie is becoming increasingly agitated, as well as increasingly powerless. "All you want is peace and quiet, but it's getting to be ridiculous," she said. "Somebody should do something about it, and it has to come from the top -- from the police."
Law enforcement agencies are well aware of the problem. Daniel Johannessen, a member of the First Precinct's Problem Oriented Police division, says that the number of complaints the precinct receives about motor scooters is astronomical. "Every couple of hours there's a call that comes in about the scooters," he said.
The situation is not easily rectified, however. "When a complaint comes in, by the time the car gets to the scene, [the scooters] are gone anyway," Johannessen said.
He stressed that operating a motorized scooter is illegal in almost all cases. In New York state, all vehicles with motors must be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. But because scooters fail to meet most safety regulations, the DMV will not allow them to be registered. Therefore, the only place to operate these vehicles legally is in a backyard or on a private lot.
Police in Nassau County have begun to crack down on the use of the scooters, but many problems remain. Many riders are well under age 16, meaning that police can do nothing more than impound a scooter and take the youngster home to his or her parents.
Johannessen believes that many parents are simply unaware of the scooters' illegality. Thus, there is less to dissuade the parents from spending $100 to nearly $600 to purchase them. "Most parents, they just don't know it's illegal for their kids to operate these vehicles," he said.
However, Nassau County is working to pass a Truth in Sales law that would require stores that sell the scooters to tell customers how they must be used and the penalties they face if the vehicles are used illegally. Similar laws are in effect in Suffolk County.
Though a majority of the scooters are bought on the Internet, such laws would affect local business like Hempstead Video, on Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead. The store sells three models of motorized scooters, all costing more than $425.
Upaly Dharmabasa, the store's manager, said that he would not have a problem with a Truth in Sales law, and that he always tells parents about the right way to operate a scooter. "I don't have a problem with such a law," he said. "In fact, we don't know about the law, but we do explain to the parents to tell their kids to stay away from main roads and to wear helmets when they ride."
Other stores in the area, such as Pep Boys in both Baldwin and Hempstead, also sell motorized scooters. Calls placed to these stores were redirected to corporate management and were not returned.
Dharmabasa believes that it is the responsibility of the vendor to inform the parents, but once a transaction takes place, the parents are responsible for the actions of their children. "If we sold one to a kid, we would be responsible, but we only sell to parents," he said. "We require parental consent, and from there, it's their responsibility to make sure the kids are using them properly."
