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Winston-Salem Prepares For Return Of Electric Scooters

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Power-assisted scooters will soon be returning to Winston-Salem. 

Bird scooters made a brief and controversial appearance in the city last year. While the scooters were popular, some residents complained about people riding on sidewalks and weaving through traffic.

City officials banned the vehicles until regulations could be drawn up.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that with the new rules now in place, five companies have applied to put their scooters out for rent, although Bird is not among the current applicants.

The new regulations state that the scooters can't be ridden on greenways or public sidewalks. They will also be forbidden in public parks, parking decks and Old Salem. Riders must be at least 16-years-old. The company providing the scooters will have to be able to determine when a vehicle is in a prohibited area, and must agree to relieve the city of any liability for injuries.  

Officials expect to make a decision on a scooter provider in the next two or three weeks.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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