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Adding my own anecdote: Minneapolis has tons of electric scooters and has done a nice job of providing infrastructure (dedicated parking, expanded bike lanes, e

Adding my own anecdote: Minneapolis has tons of electric scooters and has done a nice job of providing infrastructure (dedicated parking, expanded bike lanes, etc), especially downtown. There’s also plenty of signage reminding people that they aren’t allowed on sidewalks. Despite all of that, there are tons of people riding recklessly through crosswalks, on sidewalks, etc, on top of the usual problem of scooters being scattered all over the sidewalk and blocking pedestrian traffic. The problem isn’t with scooters, or even necessarily with the reckless operators - it’s the complete lack of enforcement of the rules. People are going to do what’s most convenient, even if it’s dangerous, even if it’s technically prohibited, unless there are consequences.

ahelwer 4y ago
I've never seen a complaint about scooters that doesn't just boil down to "they aren't obeying the rules". The rules shouldn't be that way! Riding scooters or bikes on the sidewalk is miles safer than riding it on an unprotected roadway, and should be allowed everywhere. You can look up the statistics anywhere for pedestrian fatalities from collisions with cars vs. pedestrian fatalities from collisions with bikes or scooters. They differ by more than a few orders of magnitude. Sidewalks are pitifully small in most places and this is the problem that should be solved (optionally segregating the enlarged sidewalk), not pushing scooters and cyclists out into traffic.
- bradleyankrom 4y ago
  I do not want scooters and pedestrians to share the same space - that doesn’t mean they have to be sharing space with cars. Bike lanes are ideally suited for scooters, and the onus for protecting operators in those lanes is on area planners. Sidewalks are for pedestrians, and if the proper infrastructure doesn’t exist to support bikes and scooters, they shouldn’t be operating in that area. I was speaking specifically to Minneapolis, which does have a good amount of the proper infrastructure, but scooter riders (and to a lesser extent, cyclists) often ignore it.

ahelwer 4y ago

I've never seen a complaint about scooters that doesn't just boil down to "they aren't obeying the rules". The rules shouldn't be that way! Riding scooters or bikes on the sidewalk is miles safer than riding it on an unprotected roadway, and should be allowed everywhere. You can look up the statistics anywhere for pedestrian fatalities from collisions with cars vs. pedestrian fatalities from collisions with bikes or scooters. They differ by more than a few orders of magnitude. Sidewalks are pitifully small in most places and this is the problem that should be solved (optionally segregating the enlarged sidewalk), not pushing scooters and cyclists out into traffic.

bradleyankrom 4y ago
I do not want scooters and pedestrians to share the same space - that doesn’t mean they have to be sharing space with cars. Bike lanes are ideally suited for scooters, and the onus for protecting operators in those lanes is on area planners. Sidewalks are for pedestrians, and if the proper infrastructure doesn’t exist to support bikes and scooters, they shouldn’t be operating in that area. I was speaking specifically to Minneapolis, which does have a good amount of the proper infrastructure, but scooter riders (and to a lesser extent, cyclists) often ignore it.