4 ms·
They just rolled out scooters in Helsinki. People are riding on the sidewalk everywhere. I contacted the city to suggest learning from the other examples of cit
by deanclatworthy 7y ago
They just rolled out scooters in Helsinki. People are riding on the sidewalk everywhere. I contacted the city to suggest learning from the other examples of cities which have had many teething problems with scooters, but they were not in any position to enforce any form of rules on the operators. Crazy.
- ahje 7y agoThe Finnish habit of riding bikes and scooters on the pavement is outright dangerous. Alas, I couldn't find a single candidate willing to raise the issue in the recent elections. :/
- deanclatworthy 7y agoI believe it's technically against the law to cycle on the pavement here. It's also legal to ride a small scooter (e.g. a Vespa) on the cycle lane, yet nobody can tell me if it's actually illegal to ride an electric scooter on the sidewalk. For me it would be as simple as this: - Make it illegal to ride a scooter on the sidewalks with an immediate on the spot fine of 100e. - Make it illegal for scooter companies to operate the park anywhere model. They must work with the city to install stations. The city could even offer a standard model where operators can use the city-run recharging stations. - Get rid of the majority of city center parking and aggressively install more central bike lanes, allowing future mobility solutions (e-scooters, e-skateboards etc.) more transit ways.
- ahje 7y agoAgreed, although if it isn't backed up with resources to actually enforce it, it's just a meaningless gesture. As sad as it is, a large part of the traffic offences are simply ignored outside ring III (apart from speeding caught by speed traps, of course). Riding a bike on the pavement is legal for children under the age of 12 iirc. For adults it's a no go.
- deanclatworthy 7y agoI wonder why it's considered legal for children. They probably present even more risk to an elderly person, or child in a push chair.
- ahje 7y agoI assume it's because they are occasionally behaving unpredictably and thereby pose an even larger problem when on the road. There were probably not a lot of bicycle roads or bicycle lanes back when the law was written.
- distances 7y agoI'd assume it's for the safety of the children. At that age they're perhaps not the most rational street users.
- buckminster 7y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_infancy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_infancy The USA is one of the very few places on earth where you can both prosecute and marry five year olds. (Not in every state, of course.)
- fulafel 7y agoThe rentable scooters already have surveillance built in, so they could just fine the rider in real time. I'd like to see that regulation!