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  • I have been injured by a negligent e scooter rider. A human body at sufficient speed is dangerous. You don't need to be licensed or insured to ride one.

    charge them as you would if they're a pedestrian.

    For the identical reason that this a an insufficient response to other vehicles, it's insufficient here. I don't want people who hurt me to be punished, I WANT TO BE SAFE.

    This has nothing to do with cars.

    Some fucker hurt me and I thank god the max speed was limited.

    Just because something is an alternative to driving doesn't automatically mean we should abandon any thought or reason and say "thou art above reproach and thous't actions in any circumstances must be wise and good".

    Being a scooter driver doesn't automatically make you not a fucking idiot.

    • First of all, your Middle English grammar is atrocious, the 2nd-person possessive pronoun is "thine", not "thous't". "Thou'st"* is equivalent to the modern "you've", not "your", and "you've actions" doesn't make sense.

      Second, what makes you think there will be fewer injuries with speed-limited scooters? Wouldn't you prefer they be fast enough to keep up with bike lane traffic so they don't have a reason to be on the sidewalks at all? An 8mph scooter can still knock you over, and the fall will be the cause of the bulk of your injuries in both an 8 and 15 mph collision.

      I'm not saying that they deserve to be unregulated because they aren't cars, I'm mad that they're getting the attention of regulators in a way that doesn't actually make things safer, and districts from safety issues that really deserve attention.

      • First of all, your Middle English grammar is atrocious,

        You.

        Please at least try to participate in good faith

        Also you.

        I'll just let that raging hypocrisy sit there for you to bask in.

        what makes you think there will be fewer injuries with speed-limited scooters?

        KE = mv^2 at least provides a reasonable hypothesis. On top of that, the injury rates are already so high that it's negligent public policy to not at least attempt it: peer reviewed academic study showing that in my city that they made up 15% of all ER visits

        Wouldn't you prefer they be fast enough to keep up with bike lane traffic so they don't have a reason to be on the sidewalks at all?

        This presupposes that the only reason they're on the sidewalks is that they're too slow for the bike lanes... which presupposes anywhere a scooter rider wants to go has a bike lane in which to travel.

        I'm mad that they're getting the attention of regulators in a way that doesn't actually make things safer,

        I'm empathetic. And I actually agree with you that if there is infrastructure (bike lanes) that are available, then go nuts. That's the beauty of GPS is that you could conceivably match speed limits to available infrastructure.

        And I'd be fine with many alternative mechanisms... maybe you can get some training to understand how to safely ride at higher speeds on sidewalks? Ok. Maybe the scooters have a function to make more noise so pedestrians at least have a prayer of hearing some drunk idiot cruising up behind them? Maybe have a built-in breathalyzer you gotta use after 6pm if you wanna keep the top speeds unlocked?

        I'm not unreasonable. I just don't want to get smoked AGAIN by some drunk asshole going March goddamn 3 on the sidewalk. My safety on a sidewalk shouldn't be up for negotiation. I think "we can't enforce any speed limit or else they'll be shut out of bike lanes" is an extreme conclusion to draw it a lot of big assumptions built into it.

        • Hey now, off-topic criticisms aren't bad faith, they're just bad humor, but I see how that might be misconstrued. I'm not trying to discredit your argument by changing the subject though, so I apologize for that

          I think you make some good points about the availability of bike lanes, but I disagree that limiting the speed only where bike lanes are unavailable is a suitable middle ground. I don't think scooters should be allowed on sidewalks PERIOD. Anywhere I say bike lane, assume "street" if your setting doesn't have one. And the problem I see is that limiting their speed makes the sidewalk look more appealing than the street, which is my main concern. Scooters should not be available for rental in areas with only bike lanes and fast roads, since there's not really a good speed to limit them where they're both useful as a means of transportation and safe for nearby pedestrians. As for the privately owned scooters, increasing the penalties associated with their misuse and promoting public awareness of those penalties will do far more to keep them off sidewalks than to hope the manufacturers implement the proper GPS speed limits and anti-tamper systems.

          I'm sorry a drunk scooter driver injured you and I agree that drunk scooter use should be prohibited by some means, but I don't know how you could attach a breathalyzer to a publicly used vehicle and expect people to put their mouths on it to blow. Drunkenness is a huge problem and our culture around alcohol is a major factor in allowing it to do as much harm as it does.

156 comments