Break Out the Bubble Wrap

Here we go again.

It’s that time of year when motorized everythings and whatevers resume precariously zooming around in places where they shouldn’t.

 

Electric scooters on sidewalks.

Oversized, motorized wheelchairs with headlights on bike paths.

Motorized skateboards in pedestrian lanes.

Hoverboards and mono-wheels on streets.

E-bikes breaking the sound barrier on all of the above surfaces.

 

Doesn’t anybody pedal anymore?

These so-called micro-mobility devices are everywhere. It’s a free for all, although not so much for the people who are hit by them.

 

One study in the American Journal of Public Health reports that between 2019 and 2022, e-bike and scooter related injuries increased by 293% and 88% respectively.

 

Are we having fun yet?

 

There is a pilot project underway in Quebec allowing motorized scooters, or motorized personal transport devices (MPTD), to share roads with cars, as long as the rider is over 14, wears a helmet and their device does not exceed speeds of 25 km/hr, or weigh more than 36 kilograms.

 

Cops don’t even bother enforcing basic stop signs, so don’t expect anyone to be checking that the stipulated conditions are being respected by scooter scamps.

 

I see young children on e-bikes whizzing past our home.

 

Apparently, e-bikes are allowed to go 50 km/hr on roads with that speed limit. I’m sure I’ve seen them go that speed on roads with lower speed limits.

 

Heck, I’ve been passed by e-bikes on some roads!

Yes, indeed, all of these MPTD’s are permitted in bike lanes, which has Velo Quebec suggesting we make wider bike paths.

 

Really, that’s your solution; just make the paths bigger and throw them all in there and see who comes out alive?

 

The solution is probably intense enforcement, but no government seems the least bit inclined to spend that money, or invest that time.

 

We’re going to be forced to license anything with a motor of any size because people are too obnoxious to travel carefully and respectfully.

 

And what about these confounded oversized, motorized wheelchairs with headlights, whip antennas, CD players and airbags that are darting through our grocery stores?

You old-fashioned people still doing the bipedal locomotion thing - keep your wits about you; MPTD’s of all shapes and sizes are hurtling in your direction.

 

Bubble wrap, anyone?