We are so violently opposed to car alternatives, it makes me wonder what other better worlds are within reach that we simply can’t or refuse to see
Scooter Madness
11–20 of 49 posts
Re: Scooter Madness
#12And just last Friday in my walk home, two young gentlemen on scooters on the sidewalk, riding in the direction I was walking, passed by me at 20 mph, on my left, just as I was stepping left around something in my path and I came very close to being hit. Had I stepped a second earlier I could have been severely injured, even killed.
I've been walking to/from work for 23 years, and I've never felt less safe on the sidewalk. I abhor these scooters because of how the users of them disregard the safety of pedestrians.
Re: Scooter Madness
#13So there were three deaths for who knows how many rides. How does this compare with bikes and cars? Surely some people die using those or any other means of transport, including walking.
Re: Scooter Madness
#14> Last month, the inevitable happened: Brady Gaulke, a 26-year-old Nashville man, was killed in a collision with an S.U.V. while riding a scooter. His grieving parents have launched a petition to ban the devices in Nashville. “[E]-scooters are unsafe at any speed, and we are calling on Mayor David Briley and the Metro Council to ban them from the streets immediately,” the petition reads, arguing that Mr. Gaulke shoul…
And it wasn't the car, either. IT WAS THE DRIVER CONTROLLING THE CAR. We've been brainwashed so hard, people can't even use language to describe what actually happened, lest responsibility fall on the individual.
Re: Scooter Madness
#15A car driver was killed in a collision with an S.U.V. Lets ban cars.
Re: Scooter Madness
#16My primary issues with dockless scooters are these: 1. Solid tires are awful. Harsh ride, unsafe/twitchy as hell on even slightly rough roads, and they don't inspire confidence for handling. 2. Motors that need to be kick-started in order to have enough torque to work are incredibly frustrating to use and don't have enough acceleration to get out of trouble.
Check out the Boosted Rev...
Re: Scooter Madness
#17The problem isn't scooters. Scooters have just exposed the problem: it's the cars.
There's a lot of victim blaming going on: we have giant weapons rolling around in broad daylight and when someone is killed by one we say nothing about the lumbering giants we allow to occupy so much of our space, not to mention time, money, and what little remains of the environment?
Re: Scooter Madness
#18> Brady Gaulke, a 26-year-old Nashville man, was killed in a collision with an S.U.V. while riding a scooter. His grieving parents have launched a petition to ban the devices in Nashville. “[E]-scooters are unsafe at any speed, and we are calling on Mayor David Briley and the Metro Council to ban them from the streets immediately,” the petition reads, arguing that Mr. Gaulke should be “the last victim of an epidemic that the e-scooter companies and local government both refuse to acknowledge.”
A much more sane response would be to acknowledge the personal responsibility of a single individual who chose to take risks, and suffered the consequences.
Personal e-vehicles are one of the rays of hope in the fight against climate change - getting people out of cars, reducing congestion / load on transit. It is the most shortsighted thing to try and ban them.
Re: Scooter Madness
#19> And while there is no question that this country needs a micro-mobility revolution,
Is there no question? Maybe we need to build fewer car dependent neighborhoods. Maybe the revolution is called "walking".
The article starts from a position that we have giant hunks of metal going at high speeds and anything that stands in their path must be banned or be destroyed. But car to pedestrian deaths happen with or without scooters. So why is there no talk of getting rid of the cars? Or at least creating a culture where drivers are more careful.
Re: Scooter Madness
#20> Last month, the inevitable happened: Brady Gaulke, a 26-year-old Nashville man, was killed in a collision with an S.U.V. while riding a scooter. His grieving parents have launched a petition to ban the devices in Nashville. “[E]-scooters are unsafe at any speed, and we are calling on Mayor David Briley and the Metro Council to ban them from the streets immediately,” the petition reads, arguing that Mr. Gaulke shoul…
Imagine being gaslighted by the scooter industry so hard you think that cars are the problem here, not the scooter rider that made an illegal turn in front of an SUV which tried but failed to break in time to avoid hitting him.
https://www.wsmv.com/news/bird-responds-after-scooter-rider-... https://www.chattanoogan.com/2019/5/20/390590/Brady-Gaulke-D...
All of the problems with scooters are artifacts of a startup culture that disregards safety, and business plans designed around scale, period. [https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/25/18197713/the-inventor-rev...]