I think you and I generally agree that scooters are good, and generally agree there is room for improvement in their deployment.
I think we generally believe the speeds in which they operate should be appropriate for their contexts.
I’m pretty sure where our divides are, is just “what are the contexts”, and “is prescriptive law enough?”
I don’t think prescriptive law is enough.we can post speed limits, but they are broken. We can paint bike lane lines, and cars veer into them. Physical barriers are what keep cars out of bike lanes, not paint. GPS governors could keep motor vehicles driving the speed limits, not signs. Throwing violators in jail might be “justice”, but that doesn’t bring back the kid who was mowed down.
I also, despite having been smoked my scooter riders, don’t NEED the sidewalks to be forbidden. If a scooter rider CHOOSES to use the sidewalk, I’m fine with that, AS LONG as they operate the scooter in a way appropriate for the context, and that does mean at a lower speed than on the road or bike lane. You’re right, that if we just plain forbid their operation on the sidewalks then my concerns about pedestrians evaporate entirely, but I still think that’s heavy handed.
Anyways, if there exists technology for a Tesla can more or less drive itself, I’m sure a scooter can know if it’s on a sidewalk. In your world, it could maybe stop and force the rider to dismount because they’re prohibited from that space, but I’m fine with it just being like “since you’re on the sidewalk we’re speed limiting you to 8mph”
I think you’re right. I just hate it when bandaid solutions for failures of infrastructure are left as “good enough” when they should be treated as a way to buy time while long-term solutions like divided bike lanes, narrower roads with more speed tables, and public transit upgrades. The actual solutions are ignored when the bandaid solutions aren’t themselves criticized, and without actual investment in public infrastructure we’re never going to make our walkways actually totally safe.
I think you and I generally agree that scooters are good, and generally agree there is room for improvement in their deployment.
I think we generally believe the speeds in which they operate should be appropriate for their contexts.
I’m pretty sure where our divides are, is just “what are the contexts”, and “is prescriptive law enough?”
I don’t think prescriptive law is enough.we can post speed limits, but they are broken. We can paint bike lane lines, and cars veer into them. Physical barriers are what keep cars out of bike lanes, not paint. GPS governors could keep motor vehicles driving the speed limits, not signs. Throwing violators in jail might be “justice”, but that doesn’t bring back the kid who was mowed down.
I also, despite having been smoked my scooter riders, don’t NEED the sidewalks to be forbidden. If a scooter rider CHOOSES to use the sidewalk, I’m fine with that, AS LONG as they operate the scooter in a way appropriate for the context, and that does mean at a lower speed than on the road or bike lane. You’re right, that if we just plain forbid their operation on the sidewalks then my concerns about pedestrians evaporate entirely, but I still think that’s heavy handed.
Anyways, if there exists technology for a Tesla can more or less drive itself, I’m sure a scooter can know if it’s on a sidewalk. In your world, it could maybe stop and force the rider to dismount because they’re prohibited from that space, but I’m fine with it just being like “since you’re on the sidewalk we’re speed limiting you to 8mph”
I think you’re right. I just hate it when bandaid solutions for failures of infrastructure are left as “good enough” when they should be treated as a way to buy time while long-term solutions like divided bike lanes, narrower roads with more speed tables, and public transit upgrades. The actual solutions are ignored when the bandaid solutions aren’t themselves criticized, and without actual investment in public infrastructure we’re never going to make our walkways actually totally safe.