NORTH ANDOVER -- Police Chief Richard Stanley wants the town to consider regulating motorized scooters, a popular form of transportation that some surrounding communities have already either banned or restricted.

"They've really been causing a lot of problems in neighborhoods in terms of noise and safety," Stanley said. "They make a high-pitched whining noise, and if you've got four or five kids flying around a neighborhood constantly, it's an annoyance. People work all week, then they're home Saturday and Sunday to relax and that's all they hear up and down the streets."

Stanley suggests the town create a special committee to come up with recommendations and options for regulating the scooters and all other recreational vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

Selectmen have the authority to restrict scooters.

"They surely need to be regulated to some extent," Stanley said. "I think it makes sense to have a town bylaw."

Several neighboring communities already have scooter laws on the books, including Andover, Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen.

Stanley said he constantly receives scooter complaints from residents, including reports that young people ride them down the center of the road.

"We try to counsel kids about safety on a regular basis, but it would be nice to have something we can dig our teeth into if we have to," he said.

Methuen and Lawrence have banned gas-powered scooters, while Andover prohibited scooters from roads, sidewalks and other town-owned property. Riders are restricted to private property and can only use their scooters from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Haverhill banned motorized scooters from sidewalks, playgrounds, parks and schools, and allows licensed drivers to operate the machines from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

North Andover Selectman Donald Stewart said he doesn't want to ban scooters, but would like the town to adopt rules requiring riders to wear helmets and pads and obey the rules of the road.

"My concern is that these kids are going at quite a speed, and they don't have helmets on," Stewart said. "I don't want to see these taken away from kids, but I want to make sure they're wearing the proper safety equipment."

Stewart also wants to restrict scooter use to daylight hours for safety reasons.

"I hear some of them go by at night when it's dark and they don't have lights on the scooters," he said. "I don't mind the noise, but there have to be some kind of rules and regulations to follow for their own safety."

Selectmen Chairman Rosemary Smedile, the mother of a 13-year-old scooter enthusiast, said the town needs to take its time weighing whether to regulate the motorized vehicles and if so, how to do it.

"My son has an electric scooter and it's so quiet, you don't even hear it," Smedile said. "It goes slower than a bicycle. ... I know the noise from scooters can be disturbing to some people, but you get the same noise from a lawn mower or a weed wacker."

Smedile said selectmen need to decide exactly what they are trying to regulate.

"I'm not ready to tell people that items that are legal we don't want because they produce noise. Are we going to regulate chain saws?" Smedile said. "We should be regulating proper safety and rules of the road for any vehicle, instead of singling out scooters. I have no problem as long as we treat everyone the same."