The Political Subdivisions Committee voted Wednesday to send House Bill 159 to the full House for debate.

"We need a way to keep these vehicles away from automobiles on our streets," said Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden, the bill's sponsor.

Although Dee has sponsored similar legislation in the past, this bill specifically addresses the rage of pocket bikes and comes partly in response to the struggle law enforcement has deciphering the different community ordinances.

"We're having quite a problem with these pocket bikes," said South Ogden Police Chief Val Shupe, president of the Chiefs of Police Association. "They can't be registered in the state of Utah, yet they are going on our streets."

Though the bill does ban pocket bikes from public highways, paths and sidewalks, it does not restrict the bikes on private property.

"This is certainly not a bill to curtail anyone from riding them; what it is is a bill to facilitate the need for the training and education they will need to ride them," Dee said.

The bill also addresses the issue of motor scooters, prohibiting children under 8 to operate a motor scooter on public property.

It also lowers the age someone can operate a motor scooter without supervision from 16 to 15 and more narrowly defines the concept of direct supervision.

The only opposition to the bill in committee stemmed from a belief that the bill may not be restrictive enough.