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Blog.Wired.Com -
By Keith Barry
So you want to save gas and flout traffic laws on your way to work, but you don?t want to get chain grease all over your Armani trousers? Time to get the new ultimate urban accessory: a scooter.
A scooter hasn't received so much media attention since the Vice President?s Chief of Staff was indicted, and it?s easy to see why: plunk down $1,000 to $10,000 and you?ll be rolling at close to 100 miles per gallon. Heck, get an electric scooter and you?ll only be paying your electric bill. Depending on where you live, you might not even need to bring (or even have) your driver?s license, as some scooters are considered motorized bicycles and aren?t subject to the same rules as mopeds and scooters.
Once reserved for congested and car-unfriendly European and Asian cities, American scooter owners outside of Martha?s Vineyard were looked at as wacky paparazzi wannabes. Now, they?re getting a second look by a more mature audience, just like how scooter-riding Finch ended up with Stifler?s mom. Scooter sales are up more than 66% this year, according to the Motorcycle Industry
Council. Plus, new electric models might even be
certified for highway use, as terrifying as that sounds outside of
gridlocked rush hours. The little vehicles have some big drawbacks, though:
Modern scooters may have four-stroke engines, but there's still a lot of old-school scooters out there with nasty two-strokers. They may be gas misers, but
they smoke like factories in Dickensian London. By one estimate, a single scooter can emit as much pollution as ten
cars (the California Air Resources Board found similar results for four-stroke motorcycles), which really reinforces the eco-poseur status of those who claim
to be scootering for the environment. Get an electric scooter or just
deal with being sweaty after your bike ride to work.
They can be dangerous. Anything can be dangerous if it isn?t used
properly, but competing against an 18-wheeler or city bus on a vehicle without
doors can get particularly grisly. Wearing a helmet is just common
sense, but inexperienced scooterists often don?t think about other safety precautions
like impact-resistant eyeglasses, gloves and sturdy shoes - let alone taking a safety course.
Depending on where you live, a scooter might be subject to different
rules and regulations. Not only can this vary from state to state, but
it can also vary from town to town and even subdivision to subdivision.
You could be making at best a costly mistake if it turns out you have
to pay for vehicle registration just to cut through a neighboring town,
and at worst a truly boneheaded choice if it turns out scooters are
illegal where you live.
Have you thought of a scooter as an alternate form of transportation?
What about the environmental impact and the upfront cost? Do you envy
the freewheeling twenty-somethings on Vespas, or do you want to run
them over with your jacked-up F-350? We?ll read your comments on our
Blackberries while lane splitting through a traffic jam on a fleet of
Yamaha Vinos.
Photo by Flickr user Flickmor.
Will Scooters Make Downtown Peoria Look Like Downtown Hanoi? | Autopia from Wired.com {...} By Keith Barry So you want to save gas and flout traffic laws on your way to work, but you don?t want to get chain grease all over your Armani {...} Indexed: July 30, 2008, 3:47 pm - Page Size: 68KB |