Kenneth Allen said:Electric scooters are the scourge of the modern era. They zip around wherever and whenever they please—mostly weaving through pedestrians at speeds approaching a moped...
One really ought to dig a little deeper into the root causes of whatever is fueling that level of vitriol in you. Frankly, the grievances you’ve laid out seem a bit thin compared to the sheer intensity of the rage you're projecting.
Kenneth Allen said:Join me in my attempt to voice our collective frustration with this scooter phenomenon.
When handled by reasonable, responsible adults, a scooter is an incredible time-saver. I often pull mine out of the trunk of my car, and during the day, it helps mitigate a certain amount of stress—it saves me from having to lug the car around for every minor errand or quick trip.
The lack of etiquette, the insensitivity, and the general lack of situational awareness among riders is a problem common to any mode of transport. About six months ago, a delivery guy on a bike came flying past a doorway at full tilt and nearly took out me, a friend, and her brother. Does that make all cyclists bad actors? Or all drivers on the road? Of course not.
You see seniors riding them too—and I mean real seniors. Most people I encounter ride quite normally, behaving with the understanding that pedestrians always have the right of way. In those cases, moderating your speed becomes the social standard, regardless of the pedestrian's movement.
I never use the horn in my car, so I don't use the bell on the scooter either. If someone is in my way, I just slow down behind them; if I get a gap, I glide through or give a polite verbal heads-up, and that's that. There is a rational side to this, though—scooters aren't exactly known for their stability, so anyone trying to hit 20+ mph through a crowd doesn't stand a chance of reacting to someone suddenly stepping out of a storefront or a pedestrian making an unexpected move.
Kenneth Allen said:Whenever I see a scooter, I honestly just want to smash it into pieces! I truly despise them!!
Beyond the sheer practicality, a scooter offers a sense of freedom that you can't quite grasp until you've spent a few days riding one. With a planned route—say, when you're running late—you can scout out a location in two minutes flat, covering ground that would take ten or fifteen minutes on foot. On a scooter, you cover it in the blink of an eye.
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