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In my city, we have a small conundrum. The scooters move more like bikes than walkers, but the language on our bike trail system explicitly forbids any "motoriz

In my city, we have a small conundrum. The scooters move more like bikes than walkers, but the language on our bike trail system explicitly forbids any "motorized vehicles". Of course, reasonable people could argue that such a law can be ignored, but I know I'm risking a ticket if an officer so chooses. Also, bicyclists seem to seriously hate the scooters. I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems to be that they're just not used to having much traffic on "their" paths.

deleted 8y ago
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ummonk 8y ago
Bicyclists don't want transportation systems that are more accessible to the general public.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Nobody wants there preferred form of transit to be crowded.
- wild_preference 8y ago
  People already walk in them. Might as well bring another vehicle into the mix to keep those pedestrians out!
- dang 8y ago
  It's against the site guidelines to post flamebait, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
danans 8y ago
> The scooters move more like bikes than walkers, but the language on our bike trail system explicitly forbids any "motorized vehicles" If the bike lane laws disallow motorized vehicles, then how does the sidewalk law allow it? It sounds like the laws need to be updated to allowed motorized electric vehicles capable of going up to some reasonable maximum speed in the bike lane. Basically the inverse of the law that prevents mopeds and golf carts from going on the freeway today.
notatoad 8y ago
FWIW, most places have a definition of "motorized vehicle" written into their laws somewhere, and it's usually not "any vehicle with a motor". motors under a certain power outut or vehicles capped to a certain speed don't usually count as motor vehicles, to allow things like mobility scooters & powered wheelchairs to travel on sidewalks or bike paths.
- jonlucc 8y ago
  That's a great point; I'll look into it. Thank you

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

ummonk 8y ago

Bicyclists don't want transportation systems that are more accessible to the general public.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
Nobody wants there preferred form of transit to be crowded.
wild_preference 8y ago
People already walk in them. Might as well bring another vehicle into the mix to keep those pedestrians out!
dang 8y ago
It's against the site guidelines to post flamebait, so please don't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

danans 8y ago

> The scooters move more like bikes than walkers, but the language on our bike trail system explicitly forbids any "motorized vehicles" If the bike lane laws disallow motorized vehicles, then how does the sidewalk law allow it? It sounds like the laws need to be updated to allowed motorized electric vehicles capable of going up to some reasonable maximum speed in the bike lane. Basically the inverse of the law that prevents mopeds and golf carts from going on the freeway today.

notatoad 8y ago

FWIW, most places have a definition of "motorized vehicle" written into their laws somewhere, and it's usually not "any vehicle with a motor". motors under a certain power outut or vehicles capped to a certain speed don't usually count as motor vehicles, to allow things like mobility scooters & powered wheelchairs to travel on sidewalks or bike paths.

jonlucc 8y ago
That's a great point; I'll look into it. Thank you