E-Scooter

[pegkerr]

I am thinking about getting one of these. Got the idea from this article and this article. My firm is moving to a new building, which complicates my commute a bit (I have to balance the new location with the need to find cheap parking with need to pick my girls up from daycare, which is now going to be much farther away from my building. The bus route that I used to take from the ramp to my employer is less direct now, too). The thinking is I'd drive to the ramp across the river, take the scooter out of the back of my car, and scooter to my employer. I could use the scooter to run errands during lunch, too, since we're not going to be in the heart of downtown anymore. After work, I'd scooter to the ramp, then use the car to pick up the girls. The hitch will be getting my employer to allow me to store it (and maybe charge it) on-site. I also like the fact that it means I'd cut my car usage a little bit, as I could use it for quick errands from home. Environmentally friendly, etc.

I presume I'd have to wear a bicycle helmet. I also want to find out whether I can take it on the bus if, for example, it's raining cats and dogs when I leave work. Also, do you ride these gizmos on the street or the sidewalk? Anyone know anyone who owns one?

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Wow. That would certainly up your coolness quotient.

B

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Well, I could certainly use THAT!

[longstrider.livejournal.com]

I would assume for driving purposes you treat it like a bike, which means most places you drive on the street like a car. But since I have no idea what Minn/St. Paul local traffic laws are like you might want to check.

[kaustin.livejournal.com]

I was looking at these for a while but decided against them for two reasons. Firstly the top speed is only 12.4 mph, not 22 mph as stated in the Rake article. Since that's probably for a light load I figured that I could ride my bicycle faster than the scooter would go with me on it. Secondly after looking at Minnesota state laws I decided that they would probably be classified as motorcycles if you rode them on the street and I didn't want to have to deal with the licensing and insurance issues that would bring up.

[kalikanzara.livejournal.com]

I'd suspect they'd fall under the Mopeds section, but my recollection is based on knowledge of many years back when they changed scooters of 50cc 30mph top speed to mopeds - it's possible the laws haven't adjusted to modern electrics yet.

(I should probably just go read them...)

[expetesso.livejournal.com]

I don't know anyone in the north who owns one, though they are the vehicle of choice in the Florida Keys. I rented one on my trip to Key West last March -- it was extremely comfortable, and quite zippy, and treated as a primary street vehicle.

Good luck!

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Hey, there's an idea that could make my long-held dream come true: transforming the suburbs into car-optional communities. These wouldn't be too useful in ice and snow, but once the streets are plowed, I guess they'd work as well as a bike. And for ca. $200, it's transportation that is accessible to all income brackets. I wonder how much maintenance they would require.

The main drawback I see is the one that has kept me from getting a bike: Somewhere in the process of getting older and fatter, I lost the sense of balance I used to have when I was a teenager biking everywhere. Is it hard to learn to balance on a scooter? And is there a weight limit? Not that I'm huge, a la Weekly World News cover story proportions, but I'm not, um, petite, either. ;-)