Tim Liston wrote:Mark Kindt says: ” Despite claims to the contrary by the Lakewood Planning Department, powered skateboards, scooters, and bicycles are not a success.”
Mark, I’m wondering how success is being measured or observed. What is the City hoping to accomplish by encouraging ebikes and scooters? I honestly don’t know. So how is the effort falling short so far? I pedal by the striped depot on Edgewater and Cove almost every day and I see pretty good turnover.
Mark, as you know I like the ebikes and scooters. They’re fun and useful. And compared to a car they are just about free to purchase and operate. And I wouldn’t liken them in any way to motorcycles. Yeesh! Most of the ebikes top out at 20 mph, purposefully. That’s not fast, some cyclists can get to 20 mph over stretches (but not me anymore). Class 1 and Class 2 ebikes (20 mph) can ride in designated trails or on the street. The Class 3 ebikes (28 mph) aren’t allowed in bikes lanes, just streets. But I don’t see them much. Of course no motored personal vehicle belongs on any sidewalk.
And why should an ebike rider require insurance? I generate about the same torque as a middling ebike motor and nobody’s crapping at me about insurance.
So how is the City’s effort falling short of goals?
Frequently, the City of Lakewood makes positive PR claims about its activities and because these are merely PR claims there are never any metrics. It takes considerable effort to track down numbers as I have done in my commentaries on the expansion of liquor licenses into and onto public spaces. When there are metrics provided they rarely survive reasoned analysis. Claims that novelties are successful should have some basis.
I spoke with an owner of a powered skateboard yesterday. It is very cool and very high tech and has a maximum speed of 30 mph. This technology will only advance to higher speeds. That's how the arc of technology drives change with optimization.
Obviously, my statement
"powered skateboards, scooters and bicycles are not a success" is my own opinion and I am convinced it has a reasoned basis.
Fun and enjoyment are fine values, but they should not come at the risk of general public traffic safety. Those considerations should drive the metrics of "success".
With respect to human-powered bicycles, our society has 125 years of experience with them and the relationship between motor vehicles / motorcycles with them has more or less evolve successfully over time.
Motor vehicles require driver education, driver licensing, titling, registration and liability insurances. Powered skateboards, scooters, and bikes simply do not.
My observations of "hot dogging" with this new generation of transport and my understanding of the weight, speed, and braking limitations of my car tell me that I have a daily higher risk of injury to these novel forms of transportation and those who use them than I would perhaps like.
And, of course, they are being used on the sidewalks too.
I've had 10 years of watching the City of Lakewood experiment with itself and I note very few successes. I've spend vast amounts of wasted keyboard time on the failures.
These powered novelties may be the future, but they come with a very high moral risk for all licensed drivers using the existing traffic safety infrastructure.
And, by "moral" risk, I mean a single "T-bone" accident.