3 ms·

I feel very ambivalent about scooters. On one hand I hope they do actually take some cars off the road, on the other, I think they’re mostly used by people who

I feel very ambivalent about scooters. On one hand I hope they do actually take some cars off the road, on the other, I think they’re mostly used by people who would otherwise take the bus, bike or even walk instead. And in the meantime the scooters are dumped everywhere around town: on sidewalks, in cycle lanes, in the parks and forests, thrown into the lake at the north end of the town. It’s always extra dispiriting to find them discarded in the undergrowth out in the countryside - presumably at the very end of their range. One time I found a scooter that someone had either intentionally or accidentally left so that it fell over and smashed a ground floor window. I’ve personally seen so many accidents and near-misses, including some too-young kids who must’ve hacked a scooter and crashed it into a parked car, a colleague who fell head-over the bars after a drinking binge and cut up his face, a friend who broke an arm, and a young woman who was walking across a plaza in town while reading her phone and tripped over a scooter that someone had just thrown down there and landed smack on her face. Also the strange behavior of people riding who seem not to consider they’re bound by the rules of any other transport system - cars, bikes or walkers - and simply sail unconcernedly across junctions with red lights, or in the midst of walkers on the sidewalk. I’d love to see them work better - I hate cars way more - but the anarchic spirit of their introduction hasn’t been the best for everyone living in the city.

rich_sasha 4y ago
I guess cars really stick to the rules because they know they have to. Maybe we need to step up enforcement of scooter rules. Or introduce some rudimentary exam+permit.
- null_object 4y ago
  > I guess cars really stick to the rules because they know they have to I’d love to know where you live, because it sounds like Arcadia. Where I live, at least, cars also ignore speed limits, don’t stop for pedestrians crossing, often cruise blithely through red lights, drive the wrong way on one-way streets… For a while (when I was still cycling to the office) I was doing my best to film or photograph this type of behavior - which was difficult when it was over in a couple of seconds. I got quite a few films of cars driving on cycle lanes and the wrong direction, with the intention of somehow reporting it. But in the end I realized it was just a waste of time. Anyways - at least I never find a car dumped in the forest. That’s something over scooters, I guess
  - wffurr 4y ago
    >> at least I never find a car dumped in the forest https://google.com/search?q=abandoned+car+in+forest&tbm=isch https://google.com/search?q=abandoned+car+in+forest&tbm=isch
- larrymyers 4y ago
  Cars stick to the rules? There were 42,915 automobile related deaths in the US in 2021. Annoyances over scooters is new, so we all notice it and complain. The sheer volume of damage inflicted by people using private cars for transit has just become accepted as normal.
  - luckylion 4y ago
    You should calculate deaths per weight*miles moved. If ten people are riding scooters and 300 million people are driving cars, you'd expect cars to have more deaths.
  - rich_sasha 4y ago
    Well, it's not an absolute statement. But where I live I'd say 90%+ cars drive by the rules. Anyway, my point wasn't that cars are sticklers for rules, but that to the extent they do, it's because the consequences of non compliance are potentially severe. Drive on an escooter the wrong way with no lights at night through a red light, and hit a pedestrian? Get up and keep going.
ericbarrett 4y ago
I agree completely. I've been buzzed by an e-bike on the sidewalk in NYC. He had to have been going 25+, even faster than the vehicles. Numerous times I've seen e-bikes and e-scooters cut corners at red lights by mounting the sidewalk, usually without concern for whomever may be approaching from the other direction.
asah 4y ago
rental only - owned scooters are locked up carefully.
rightbyte 4y ago
> And in the meantime the scooters are dumped everywhere That is only a problem with "gig economy" rentals. I think that is what I distaste, not the scooters. Hopefully the VC money will dry up soon before the rivers are filled to the brim with scooters.

rich_sasha 4y ago

I guess cars really stick to the rules because they know they have to. Maybe we need to step up enforcement of scooter rules. Or introduce some rudimentary exam+permit.

null_object 4y ago
> I guess cars really stick to the rules because they know they have to I’d love to know where you live, because it sounds like Arcadia. Where I live, at least, cars also ignore speed limits, don’t stop for pedestrians crossing, often cruise blithely through red lights, drive the wrong way on one-way streets… For a while (when I was still cycling to the office) I was doing my best to film or photograph this type of behavior - which was difficult when it was over in a couple of seconds. I got quite a few films of cars driving on cycle lanes and the wrong direction, with the intention of somehow reporting it. But in the end I realized it was just a waste of time. Anyways - at least I never find a car dumped in the forest. That’s something over scooters, I guess
- wffurr 4y ago
  >> at least I never find a car dumped in the forest https://google.com/search?q=abandoned+car+in+forest&tbm=isch https://google.com/search?q=abandoned+car+in+forest&tbm=isch
larrymyers 4y ago
Cars stick to the rules? There were 42,915 automobile related deaths in the US in 2021. Annoyances over scooters is new, so we all notice it and complain. The sheer volume of damage inflicted by people using private cars for transit has just become accepted as normal.
- luckylion 4y ago
  You should calculate deaths per weight*miles moved. If ten people are riding scooters and 300 million people are driving cars, you'd expect cars to have more deaths.
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  Well, it's not an absolute statement. But where I live I'd say 90%+ cars drive by the rules. Anyway, my point wasn't that cars are sticklers for rules, but that to the extent they do, it's because the consequences of non compliance are potentially severe. Drive on an escooter the wrong way with no lights at night through a red light, and hit a pedestrian? Get up and keep going.

ericbarrett 4y ago

I agree completely. I've been buzzed by an e-bike on the sidewalk in NYC. He had to have been going 25+, even faster than the vehicles. Numerous times I've seen e-bikes and e-scooters cut corners at red lights by mounting the sidewalk, usually without concern for whomever may be approaching from the other direction.

asah 4y ago

rental only - owned scooters are locked up carefully.

rightbyte 4y ago

> And in the meantime the scooters are dumped everywhere That is only a problem with "gig economy" rentals. I think that is what I distaste, not the scooters. Hopefully the VC money will dry up soon before the rivers are filled to the brim with scooters.