The community I teach in banned e-scooters because kids are absolutely so dumb on them. They have zero regard for cars in the road and pedestrians. It’s a legit hazard. The kids moan and complain about the ban.
I tell the kids, stop being an idiot, obey the rules of the road, and the ban may go away.
It's how they ride it, not their age (barring very young children) that puts them at risk. Age restrictions here don't do much good and they cause a lot of harm via kids and adults who don't want to go everywhere with their ID on them being unable to access a good method of transportation and kids not getting the opportunity to learn to use them appropriately.
Yes I get that, but with age comes more maturity. At a minimum there should be laws around helmets and safe use that are enforced. I still think anything thats powered that requires riding in the street or riding in the street there should still be licensing/ age limits. We don't let 12 year olds drive cars or ride motorcycles on the road. And some of these actually end up falling into motorcycle territory.
To an extent, yes. But for the most part maturity comes with experience. How are people supposed to get that maturity when they're not allowed to get the experience it requires?
At a minimum there should be laws around helmets and safe use that are enforced.
Helmet laws and safe use laws are reasonable, but that's not remotely the same as banning them completely.
I still think anything thats powered that requires riding in the street or riding in the street there should still be licensing/ age limits.
Why? You haven't adequately defended this point, just said "I think it should be this way."
We don't let 12 year olds drive cars or ride motorcycles on the road. And some of these actually end up falling into motorcycle territory.
No true e-bike has its top speeds match those of motorcycles' top speeds. Enforcing speed limits is fine, but restricting e-bikes just because they can be fast is ridiculous. It's comparable to banning cars that can go 100mph from a road with a 25mph speed limit regardless of how fast the car's actually going.
And an e-bike is far closer to a bike than a motorcycle. Do you think kids should be banned from normal bikes too? If not, what's so special about e-bikes?
I have never once seen a child on one of these actually pedaling. Most of the ones in my area go prohibitively fast and the kids are like 10 years old with no helmet or shoes
The community I teach in banned e-scooters because kids are absolutely so dumb on them.
People think I'm paranoid, but I've been seeing more and more 'concerned citizens' clutching pearls over alt transport like scooters and ebikes now that they're getting popular, when really, it's just people wanting to squash it so there isn't more call for protected bike lanes and better pedestrian infrastructure.
I watched a 10 year old completely ignore a stop sign and haul ass out of a parking lot and then get smacked head on by a car (partially obstructed view for the car).
Kid was INSANELY lucky that it was 1) a car and not a jacked up brodozer or soccer mom suburban) and 2) going the speed limit.
No helmet and the kid's face was super fucked up. I was the first one to him and he couldn't tell me his name.
I live in Denver, which is generally bike friendly and has plenty of places to ride safely. But they have to GET there first.
Citation needed of the number of other people killed by cyclists? The reason we license and insure driving is because it's a multi ton piece of metal that can easily kill others. Cyclists do not kill enough people to bother involving government in the issue
I think there's at least a good case to be made that it's a good idea. If the reality is that most people can not handle riding scooters responsibly, and that they are a net negative to the community, than perhaps yes. Maybe it would be better to have a law banning them under penalty of confiscation for minors, and having some way to punish adults who ride them irresponsibly. We're talking about something that's not only annoying, but also dangerous. What do you think is a fair criterium for banning things?
I'm not sure. It actually doesn't need to be most - it could just be enough people to make it a problem for the community. There are lots of things that are regulated or banned for similar reasons, not because most people can't handle them responsibly, but because there are enough irresponsible people to make it a problem. Most people wouldn't drive 100 in a school zone, but a minority of assholes absolutely would. Most people wouldn't dump poisonous chemicals from their business into the community water table, but a minority of assholes would. It sounds like some assholes from the community in question were causing problems with scooters and got the hammer brought down, it sucks for the responsible riders. Again, maybe they should just regulate riding them instead of outright banning them. Kids don't usually carry ID, so it might get complicated keeping track of offenders. I'm taking it at face value that the scooter riders in that community were causing problems, but who knows if it was most of them.
I'm not sure. It actually doesn't need to be most - it could just be enough people to make it a problem for the community.
This is the important part though. We're talking about punishing everyone for the misdeeds of a few. I have no dog in this fight, and kids messing around don't bother me much.
What does bother me is when we decide to make laws that punish everyone because we don't take the time to understand how to study and solve the problem. Easier to just say "ban it".
Well there is an inherent problem with giving children the ability to go 30mph+ regardless of how that's achieved. It's probably appropriate to recognize when the introduction of a technology has negative impacts, and retract it.
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u/outtherenow1 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
The community I teach in banned e-scooters because kids are absolutely so dumb on them. They have zero regard for cars in the road and pedestrians. It’s a legit hazard. The kids moan and complain about the ban.
I tell the kids, stop being an idiot, obey the rules of the road, and the ban may go away.