The link is to an article about scooters and how they lack road rules. I find it amazing how the police don't read their own laws. To me, the law clearly defines the scooters as a vehicle, subject to the laws as a car or even a bike. :rolleyes:
The NO police say “This is so new, they haven’t been addressed yet,”, even though these little beasts have been on the road around here for several years. Even a dealer is quoted that regulation is needed.
But the part that just floored me is the guy who spent an hour on the bus to go 2 miles. Now, with his scooter, it takes 30 minutes, running the sidewalk. Let's do the math:
bus @ 2 miles / 1 hour = 2 mph :eek:
scooter @ 2 miles / 0.5 hour = 4 mph
This is improvement? At least it is an electric scooter, and not a 2-cycle stinkpot buzz bomb. I guess the concept of walking 2 miles is just too bizarre.
I know that area of Metarie, and there is a Toys'r'us nearby, along with a great bike shop, either one which could have fixed our brave commuter up with fine bike for the same cost as the scooter. No batteries required!
To me, one of the finer joys of cycle commuting is that those who get it, get it. And those who don't, well, they can't catch me.
cycletourist
11-30-03, 09:12 AM
Hey Tinker,
I see you are in NewOrleans. I lived in New Orleans for a year and found it a very easy place to navigate by bicycle. I rode all over Metarie, Algeirs/West Bank, Chalmette. I even rode down to Grand Isle once. I was always amazed by the general laziness of the people who lived there. They were so spoiled by air conditioning that they didn't want to go outside. And when they did go outside it was just to walk 12 feet to their air-conditioned cars.
prestonjb
11-30-03, 09:53 AM
Florida tried to address the issues with the new class of stand-up scooters...
They changed the statues to get it described so they could define what the rules for operation were, however they didn't go much further than classifiying it as a vehicle...
Doing this but not adding the statues to say where it is allowed basically made the following problems:
1) Now that it is a vehicle it is alowed to be on the road
2) Without identifying how it sould be controled by the other statues it is now a vehicle it also falls into the rules of requiring license-plates and a drivers license.
3) However the status for licence plates don't specify what the rules are or fees are for this type of scooter and therefore they cannot give out a license plate.
4) Because of #3 the vehicle is a vehicle but cannot be bound by most of the rules such as speed, license, or even if it is allowed on sidewalks, bike paths and what not.
The local cities are now stuck because before they could at least tell the kids to stay on the sidewalk (yea sure)...
Ah well... Soon it will be time to read the 2004 statues.
mister boo
12-01-03, 09:01 AM
d.
But the part that just floored me is the guy who spent an hour on the bus to go 2 miles. Now, with his scooter, it takes 30 minutes, running the sidewalk. Let's do the math:
bus @ 2 miles / 1 hour = 2 mph :eek:
scooter @ 2 miles / 0.5 hour = 4 mph
This is improvement? At least it is an electric scooter, and not a 2-cycle stinkpot buzz bomb. I guess the concept of walking 2 miles is just too bizarre.
I know that area of Metarie, and there is a Toys'r'us nearby, along with a great bike shop, either one which could have fixed our brave commuter up with fine bike for the same cost as the scooter. No batteries required!
Take another look at the picture of the mentioned gentleman ;) I think judging by the proportions I see in the picture, even a great bike shop would have a hard time fitting him, and walking even 2 miles would be a chore. In this particular case, I think the scooter does seem to fit his needs. But that's just my opinion, YMMV.
Peace,
Bill
Da Tinker
12-03-03, 04:18 PM
Yah, I noticed that upon re-examination of the article. He does semm to be somewhat physically challenged. But setting that issue aside, I found the article to be a sad commentary on both public transport and the thought processes of the police.
mister boo
12-03-03, 05:41 PM
Tinker -
That issue aside I totally agree that it's a truly sad commentary
Peace,
Bill
cycletourist
12-03-03, 08:38 PM
Hmm... the guy lives in New Orleans. Their bus system sucks but if you take the time to learn the schedule you can still get around pretty well.
oscaregg
12-04-03, 06:38 PM
What about the regulations for sub-freeway speed motorcycles? Couldn't scooters be classified along with mopeds, 50cc bikes, etc.?
Dchiefransom
12-04-03, 09:31 PM
Couldn't you walk 2 miles in 30 minutes at a fast walk? That's slow even for a scooter.
Dorf411
12-07-03, 10:03 AM
mister boo said:
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Take another look at the picture of the mentioned gentleman I think judging by the proportions I see in the picture, even a great bike shop would have a hard time fitting him, and walking even 2 miles would be a chore. In this particular case, I think the scooter does seem to fit his needs. But that's just my opinion, YMMV.
___________________________________________________________________
Lets put something in perspective, sure he is short and likely wouldn't fit an adult bike well but a kids bike would be fine. Were talking a short mile, even my very small 5yo on a super cheap department store bike can maintain 9-12 mph for over a couple miles. This would be a significant improvement over the scooter. 1 mile at 10mph is a quick 6 minutes.
roadfix
12-07-03, 01:51 PM
Funny incident a few days ago as I was commuting to work on my fixed gear. I catch up to this guy on a rather fancy 2 cycled scooter at the stop light. No words exchanged. We take off and I beat him to the next light....and the next.... so this goes on for the next 3 miles or so and he's going full throttle. So finally at another stop light he stares at my bike and says 'man, fast bike, dood, what kind is it'? I told him it's not the bike...