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Rental Scooters...not full size Scooters

Austins first fatality a few days ago. The local emergency rooms say at least one scooter incident patient per shift , which they said are eleven rotations daily?

The rider was going wrong way on I-35 frontage road near the downtown entertainment district and was struck by a driver entering the uphill ramp to I-35.
One of the responses is they have lighting for night use...if you see the lighting...pretty weak and the taillight is about 4" off the ground.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aus...-scooter-uber-collision-identified/1754383609
 
E-scooters are fun and practical, but there is definitely a learning curve on how to ride them safely.
The handling is squirrely with the small tires and road defects like small potholes and ridges are best avoided. As with bicycles, a helmet and gloves and even knee and elbow guards should be worn although most people don’t bother.
They work very well for “last mile” trips in a city, from the bus station or parking lot to work and back.
In most places they are regulated like bicycles, but with increased popularity that may change. E-bicycles are also getting to be very popular but aren’t as portable.
 

Saw mention of this thread elsewhere today...

Actually rode into downtown Austin last Saturday night to see what’s happening. After retiring from city, rare to find me anywhere near... on a motorcycle at night for sure.

The main north/ south drag downtown from the capitol building to SOCO( South Congress where everything is new and buzzing) had road cones separating outside lanes for “ bicycles” by signage, but occupied by e- stand up scooters, e- bikes, and a few people powered old school bikes. All had a headlight and tail lite of
some sort but so low you had to really be scanning with them darting in and out of every conceivable spot. Some with two on a stand up which makes for a very stable platform... not.
The newest option are the Revel mopeds mentioned. They are out in traffic! Come with two helmets, but my informal survey saw minimal compliance. They do up to 35mph as mentioned and I saw few skills being shown other than zip to next light. I had two on my wing for a few blocks getting odd looks in my gear. Let’s just say a bad thing waiting to happen and already a few incidents like NYC... go figure! Did get some backseat riders asking me to take them with me... But I digress! The amount of Saturday night traffic and activity with the restrictions on bars and such didn’t seem to alter the buzz down there.

All the E- whatever’s have a geo fence to keep them in certain areas, which just makes them thick in the areas that allow them. Pretty crazy for even my moderate temperament.
 
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