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Because these scooters do not have infrastructure designed for them, they might as well be more dangerous than cars, both for the rider and third parties. For

Because these scooters do not have infrastructure designed for them, they might as well be more dangerous than cars, both for the rider and third parties. For example, in the Netherlands, this is indeed the case, and in the Netherlands there are bicycle paths, although I am not sure if that helps or increases the amount of accidents or their severity. Data: https://www.swov.nl/en/facts-figures/factsheet/road-deaths-netherlands https://www.swov.nl/en/facts-figures/factsheet/road-deaths-n... What is the risk of a fatal crash in Dutch traffic for different modes of transport?

bluntfang 8y ago
>they might as well be more dangerous than cars this is dumb. cars weigh 1000x more than these scooters.
- minkzilla 8y ago
  A dumb teen isn't going to try to drive a car on the sidewalk. I've seen teens drive scooters on sidewalks. You can't lane split with a car, you can with a scooter. Cars have a greater ability to be dangerous, but maybe scooters are more dangerous because of how they can be and are used. I do not actually know, I've never looked into numbers.
  - Buldak 8y ago
    The fact that scooters can be used in such ways is not a compelling case that they're more dangerous than cars. If anything, what strikes me is that a scooter on the sidewalk seems outrageous to some people, by contrast, largely because it's just a banal fact we're all accustomed to that cars kill people by the tens of thousands every year.
  - golemiprague 8y ago
    In Japan and many other countries people share footpaths with cyclers including electric ones and nothing too bad happens. It is just a matter of culture. It is funny how in much less congested areas like suburban America or Australia people freak out when someone drive a scooter on the almost empty footpath.
  - asdff 8y ago
    The exact same can be said for bicycles. They go the same speed, they have to be used in the street and not the sidewalk, and bicyclists can be just as careless and oblivious on the road. Yet there is no age restriction for riding a bike on a roadway; you can bike down a 45mph road perfectly legally the day you get your training wheels removed. The problem is not the scooters and who rides them, it's the danger posed by cars. Cars have to be physically separated from other forms of transport. Buses should get their own lane to beat car traffic, bikes and other lower speed vehicles like scooters or even runners should stay in the bike lane. This is a transportation issue, not a scooter issue, and you can't fix it with an age restriction.
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twiss 8y ago
There's a graph at the bottom of https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatschappij/verkeer-en-vervoer/transport-en-mobiliteit/mobiliteit/verkeersongevallen/categorie-verkeersongevallen/verkeersdoden-naar-kenmerken https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatschappij/verkeer-en-vervoer/tra.... It's in Dutch, but should be understandable if you Google Translate and click "Show table". Basically, bikes are not very dangerous except for people over 60.

bluntfang 8y ago

>they might as well be more dangerous than cars this is dumb. cars weigh 1000x more than these scooters.

minkzilla 8y ago
A dumb teen isn't going to try to drive a car on the sidewalk. I've seen teens drive scooters on sidewalks. You can't lane split with a car, you can with a scooter. Cars have a greater ability to be dangerous, but maybe scooters are more dangerous because of how they can be and are used. I do not actually know, I've never looked into numbers.
- Buldak 8y ago
  The fact that scooters can be used in such ways is not a compelling case that they're more dangerous than cars. If anything, what strikes me is that a scooter on the sidewalk seems outrageous to some people, by contrast, largely because it's just a banal fact we're all accustomed to that cars kill people by the tens of thousands every year.
- golemiprague 8y ago
  In Japan and many other countries people share footpaths with cyclers including electric ones and nothing too bad happens. It is just a matter of culture. It is funny how in much less congested areas like suburban America or Australia people freak out when someone drive a scooter on the almost empty footpath.
- asdff 8y ago
  The exact same can be said for bicycles. They go the same speed, they have to be used in the street and not the sidewalk, and bicyclists can be just as careless and oblivious on the road. Yet there is no age restriction for riding a bike on a roadway; you can bike down a 45mph road perfectly legally the day you get your training wheels removed. The problem is not the scooters and who rides them, it's the danger posed by cars. Cars have to be physically separated from other forms of transport. Buses should get their own lane to beat car traffic, bikes and other lower speed vehicles like scooters or even runners should stay in the bike lane. This is a transportation issue, not a scooter issue, and you can't fix it with an age restriction.

deleted 8y ago

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twiss 8y ago

There's a graph at the bottom of https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatschappij/verkeer-en-vervoer/transport-en-mobiliteit/mobiliteit/verkeersongevallen/categorie-verkeersongevallen/verkeersdoden-naar-kenmerken https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatschappij/verkeer-en-vervoer/tra.... It's in Dutch, but should be understandable if you Google Translate and click "Show table". Basically, bikes are not very dangerous except for people over 60.