As the school year gets under way, university and city police say they often have to ticket large numbers of moped users who do not know or follow traffic and parking rules for mopeds.
Frequently committed offenses include driving on sidewalks, riding double on a vehicle that is licensed as a moped rather than a motorcycle and driving more than two abreast on a street with a speed limit of more than 25 mph, according to police.
Tickets for these offenses can stress a students' wallet, UW-Madison Police court services Officer Michael Newton said. A ticket for driving on the sidewalk may cost up to $156.20, and the penalty for driving with two people on one moped is $181.
\That's the hard part right now, is tickets are so expensive and I think that gets people upset,"" Newton said.
Madison Police Sgt. Mark Brown said individual patrol officers decide whether to ticket moped offenses.
""Usually this time of year when school first starts up it's more of an educational process than a ticketing process,"" he said.
However, some moped drivers say they have noticed peers receiving tickets and it makes them nervous.
UW-Madison senior Kari Williams said she was leaving work at the University Hospital last week and she saw a parking enforcement officer ticketing about 25 mopeds in a row. Williams said the officer did not make it clear to her why they were illegally parked.
She said this incident and others made her think more moped users are getting ticketed than usual.
""In the past, it's always toward the beginning of the year that they ticket, but not as much as this year,"" she said.
But Brown and Newton said that is not the case. Individual officers use discretion when they ticket, but the departments overall have not cracked down on moped offenses this year, they said.
""Oftentimes we run into people that we've warned two, three times for riding double and they probably are going to get a ticket,"" Newton said.
