My GZ-- La Poderosita-- is gone...

[tcrave]

Most scooters I have seen cannot keep up on the road. 98% of them are not registered, insured, or licensed. That is why they annoy me. Maybe it is different in other places, but here, that is what I observe. If the scooters were licensed, registered, and insured and could keep up, then I would have no problem with them.

I have no problem with bicycles. I think they are great! If I see someone on a bicycle, as long as they are riding with a brain, my hats off to them, I enjoy seeing that. Its helping the environment, giving them exercise, and there are countless more benefits. If they are riding like an idiot, all bets are off.

Wouldn't it irritate you if you paid for a permit and all these people that have not paid a darn thing are taking up all the spots, leaving you with nowhere to park?

But, I will say I would much rather see someone on a scooter than in an SUV any day of the week.

[Mercutio57]

Amen to that.

Just this past Sunday , a few blocks from my house, a biker was killed by a left-turning cager who, of course, "didn't see him." As one local news post put it, the brother dies on the street in a pool of blood, and the old lady who killed him gets a new Mercedes from the insurance company-- where's the justice?

If drivers who "don't see" faced the same homicide charges-- and sentences-- as drunk drivers who kill do, at least a few more of them might be inclined to wake up. Worth a try, at least.

[mole2]

Originally Posted by tcrave

Most scooters I have seen cannot keep up on the road. 98% of them are not registered, insured, or licensed. That is why they annoy me. Maybe it is different in other places, but here, that is what I observe. If the scooters were licensed, registered, and insured and could keep up, then I would have no problem with them.

I have no problem with bicycles. I think they are great! If I see someone on a bicycle, as long as they are riding with a brain, my hats off to them, I enjoy seeing that. Its helping the environment, giving them exercise, and there are countless more benefits. If they are riding like an idiot, all bets are off.

Wouldn't it irritate you if you paid for a permit and all these people that have not paid a darn thing are taking up all the spots, leaving you with nowhere to park?

But, I will say I would much rather see someone on a scooter than in an SUV any day of the week.

In SC you don't need insurance, registration nor license to operate a moped. That's the smallest scooters. But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. If you don't like that then tuff. I pay my registration and insurance to use my motorcycle. That is based on size. As far as parking....get there earlier and you'll get a spot. It's attitudes like yours I don't like. Tuff.

[alantf]

I think the point is that EVERYONE should pay their share of costs to use the public roads. If cars, bikes, lorries etc have to pay the additional costs, then so should mopeds & even bicycles. This is a point that I, too, feel strongly about.

[tcrave]

Originally Posted by mole2

In SC you don't need insurance, registration nor license to operate a moped. That's the smallest scooters. But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. If you don't like that then tuff. I pay my registration and insurance to use my motorcycle. That is based on size. As far as parking....get there earlier and you'll get a spot. It's attitudes like yours I don't like. Tuff.

Ok, I can see your point a little bit on the gas part...but then why have anyone carry insurance, license, or registration? If a scooter doesn't need it, then no one should, right? You could try saying that a scooter is not capable of producing damage enough to need insurance...FALSE...I've seen plenty of idiots not knowing how to properly operate a scooter and crashing them. Luckily they didn't hit someone, but have you ever taken your car to a body shop??? Even a small dent cost a ton.

This whole mentality that scooters shouldn't need registration, license, and insurance (which they don't here, either), is a huge reason that they are able to get away with breaking the rules of the road, which is dumb. how is a cop going to write a ticket for someone without ID, license, or registration? Is it really going to be worth his time to drag the person to jail over a $50 ticket? Probably not. But, if the scooter had license, that problem would be solved.

As far as parking, I completely disagree, not to mention you just contradicted yourself(and if I was complaining about one certain spot, you would be right, but I'm not, I'm talking about the WHOLE lot). You JUST said " But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. " Shouldn't the same principle apply? I paid for my parking spot...they didn't. Why should I have to pay for something that someone else gets to use? If they paid for permits and the lot just happened to be filled, then I would have no problem, they paid jsut as much as I did. But, the fact that zero, or MAYBE one out of 8 has paid, that is what pisses me off. Why should I have to get there early to use what I paid for? I don't want to waste my time for something I have already paid for. Using your logic, it would be like buying a car and you having to leave for work at 8am, but someone steals your car at 7:30am and you saying "owell, they can have it, I should have gotten in my car before they stole it."

[geezer]

:popcorn: enjoying this

[Mercutio57]

So then the solution would be for all states to require registration and insurance for scooters, as is done here.

Which would mean convincing your local legislators-- and, of course, their constituents-- in the wisdom of increasing government oversight and control over yet another aspect of daily life, in imitation of-- gasp! --New York.

Good luck with that...

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Mercutio57

So then the solution would be for all states to require registration and insurance for scooters

It seems like America is the only (civilised?) country where they don't have to be registered & carry insurance. England & Europe certainly require it. Over here the police set up regular checkpoints just to pull scooters in, as they recognise them as the ones to most frequently flout the law.