💡 This is an interesting one and I would really like to see where this goes. What is your opinion? Here is mine!
Here’s my concern:
🏡 I think electric scooters are a brilliant, eco-friendly way to get around the city, but as someone who has been driving for years, I find them extremely irritating and a real nuisance, and to be honest a tad aggrieved that I had to sit and pass a theoretical and practical exam to allow me to operate a motor vehicle legally on public roads, yet mere kids are permitted to cruise the streets on these things without fear or recourse. Even traffic police do nothing!
🚙 As they are motorized vehicles being operated on public roads, the operators and the vehicles themselves should be licensed and properly trained, just like any other vehicle and driver. You wouldn’t let a 12-year-old decide to take their dad’s car out for a spin around town without a license, right? Well, that’s illegal, no matter how fast or slow they drive. The car also needs to be roadworthy and have the appropriate certificate. If the car isn’t roadworthy, even if it has a valid certificate, it could still be impounded.
🛂 The same should apply to electric scooters. They are no longer dinky toys, they are actual motor vehicles. Some of the fancier ones even have front and rear suspension. So, if they’re being used on public roads, they should meet the same legal requirements as any other motor vehicle. They need to be roadworthy – think turn signals, stop lights, rear park lights, headlights, correct tire tread depth, brake efficiency, etc. The operator also needs to be of a certain age and pass at least a basic test (similar to what motorcyclists have to do). At the very least, this would give them a better understanding of the rules of the road. Without these permits, the operators and their vehicles are a serious safety risk, not only to themselves but also to other legal road users.
🤦♂️ The operators of these scooters also seem to pick and choose which road rules they want to follow. Some will use hand signals, while others will hop off and push the scooter across a pedestrian crossing, only to jump back on and speed through a roundabout with traffic. It’s mind-boggling!
The “Grey Area”
📜 When you ask people about the law surrounding electric scooters, the common answer is, “it’s a grey area,” and they’re often classified as “personal mobility devices.” But there’s no grey area here. “Personal mobility devices” in the true sense of the device, are meant for people with disabilities or the elderly, such as motorised wheelchairs or four-wheeled scooters. These cruise around at relatively low speeds You don’t see many elderly or disabled people zipping around on high-speed, two-wheeled stand-up scooters, do you! I’ve even seen elderly people and those with disabilities having to move out of the way for teenagers riding scooters on sidewalks. Sometimes, they even have to get off their actual mobility devices to move rental scooters that have been left in the middle of walkways so they can pass. It’s completely unfathomable.
🚙 Electric scooters are motorized vehicles, full stop. They should not be operated on sidewalks or public roads without the proper licenses and permits. In fact, the law states that “the operation of a motor vehicle on a sidewalk is prohibited,” and that should apply to electric scooters as well.
❗ The contents of this blog are my personal opinion. Please, I would love to hear your views. Drop us a comment below but remember, you can use this platform to rant or vent your frustrations with the world, ⚠ but you cannot slam another’s opinion. Your opinion is yours and yours alone. I will however welcome a proper debate or discussion. Any slandering of someone else’s opinion will be removed and the member blocked.
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