> On a sidewalk, a safe stopping distance is about 1 meter. Because of the small angle, safe speed for scooters and skateboards is about the same as walking.
The safe stopping distance depends on your line of sight around corners - if you're riding far enough from entrances and exits, at an appropriate pace, the stopping distance can be either greater or smaller provided you anticipate enough.
> Also, the small non-pneumatic wheels are easily stopped by cracks and small objects.
But much less so than normal kick scooters or skateboards. Skateboards are a worse in that regard, and scooters much better with the wheels being larger and in-line.
> They are far less safe than bicycles, which are excluded from sidewalks, and riding them on roads with vehicle traffic is suicidal. I guarantee that this will be born out by accident data soon.
It depends on whether you take them on a daredevil mountain descent at peak hour or not. If you want to look at the data, you might realise that while sidewalk riding in San Francisco is prohibited (but not well enforced, perhaps because police have better priorities), it is permitted in the states north, Oregon and Washington State. It's also permitted in many places around Australia - in fact, often times, where a shared path ends and a footpath begins is a blurred line. Where sidewalk/footpath riding is permitted, cyclists are largely as safe around pedestrians whether the pedestrian is on the footpath or the road.
> I’ve spent years of my life on the road by my own power, and I am certain that I would be dead many times over if I were on a scooter instead of a bicycle.
Many times over, only if you don't learn from the first instance. Not everyone proceeds forth with the same unchanged attitude after their first early mishap.
> When the streets of SF are wide open because the cars got kicked out, ride whatever you want. Until then, ride a bike. Ride a big long frame with steel-spoked wheels. E-bike if you must, and don’t mind me trying to keep up with you with an aging meat motor.
The best way to encourage rider uptake is to build the appropriate balanced infrastructure - that will mean taking away "free" on-stree car parking spaces along with other measures. America's experiment with "vehicular cycling" has long failed and people are simpy no longer riding, but instead spending more time on the sofas and chairs. That's the greatest health burden right now going forward.
The electric scooters are a symptom of a larger problem, not the cause.