Neuron’s provision of electric scooters and e-bikes is a welcome addition to the City of Vernon.
It is awesome to be able to rent one of these machines wherever you find them, for a nominal fee compared to taxi fare, and just leave them wherever you happen to end up at the end of your trip.
The Neuron company, the provincial government, and the City of Vernon have rules, laws, bylaws and regulations that pertain specifically to scooters and bikes to make the city safe for all of us.
Speaking directly to the use of electric scooters, the rules are that riders must be a minimum of 16 years of age, must wear a helmet, must not carry any passengers (cannot ride tandem), and must follow the rules of the road.
I would assume the traffic laws and the rules of the road about driving impaired and distracted driving would also apply to scooter (and bike) riders.
Hey, these rules are great and should make us all happy.
In my travels around the city, though, I have witnessed many scooter users that do not appear to be knowledgeable of, or simply are ignoring, these rules.
It is very seldom I see any rider using a helmet.
There are many instances where I have seen folks riding tandem.
I have seen folks come out of a bar, get on a scooter and drive away.
I have seen scooter riders using their cell phone while riding.
I have seen them riding the wrong way down a one-way street.
I have seen them driving on the wrong side of the street directly against the direction of traffic flow.
And many of the riders are clearly much younger than 16 years.
So, while the availability of electric scooters and e-bikes is a great addition to the city environment, and while the legislative officials have enacted specific rules and regulations pertaining to their use for the safety of all of us, I have to ask if there is anyone who is doing any enforcement of these rules and regulations.
Does anyone really care that the laws and regulations are being blatantly ignored?
Ken Lungle
READ MORE: Scooting into Okanagan emergency rooms due to lack of helmets
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@VernonNews
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