As I posted several weeks ago, I got a free bike helmet courtesy of the NYC dept of transportation. I have been thinking about getting a scooter to get around my neighborhood and possibly to take it on buses and subways to facilitate getting around elsewhere. I could use a backpack to carry stuff as needed. Any first-hand experience or good articles CCers have read? I do have a limited budget.
Don’t do it! Our old bones don’t heal that fast.
A niece-in-law had one to travel “in-town” and wound up in the ER, and had to recuperate.
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Our college banned them. Despite “young bones” they were ultimately deemed too dangerous. (Mostly for the pedestrians, I think).
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Just witnessed a bike vs scooter near miss. Scooter had the right of way and bicyclist did not stop at his red light. Both students came off their modes of transportation very abruptly, the cyclist almost landed in the road and had a near miss with a car.
My vote is a hard no. 
No scooter experience. But I did rent an ebike this summer to ride on bike trails (in Steamboat CO). Honestly I found it a bit tricky dealing with it when the trail had a lot of pedestrians nearyby. Not sure I’d ever want to use a powered device on a sidewalk.
While I didn’t own a scooter, I did have a moped in my 20s. That was probably the worst purchase I ever made. Luckily for me, someone stole it before I could be killed on the very busy four lane road that I took to my night classes. The moped had a little rack behind the seat where I could strap down books. What it needed was a tall neon flag to help car drivers see me, and probably better lights. Rainy weather was frightening. Aside from dealing with scary traffic and slick roads, I also had several incidents with male passengers in cars reaching out to slap my bottom and catcalling, the same as some did when I used to ride a bike.
If what you meant was not a Vespa type scooter but the kind you stand on, then never mind…
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My H fell when riding an un-motorized razor scooter two decades ago, while going down a path in a park and had a brief concussion. He and we have avoided scooters you stand on ever since. One more vote for NO.
The scooters that share the road with cars and trucks are even scarier. They are right there next to big heavy machines that often don’t notice them and can easily run them over and flatten the scooter and passenger.
Agree with all the above even if you were 35! On an not busy paved trail for recreation? Maybe. In a city with others around and traffic and corners to stop at and…all the stuff…NOPE.
A young woman in Denver (friend of a friend) rented one of the scooters you find on the street (Byrd? Lime?) on a Friday night in Denver, I think after a baseball game. The stadium is in an older part of town and the streets and sidewalks are not smooth. She went over the handlebars, broke both shoulders, lost some teeth, and was in the hospital for weeks. She also couldn’t use her arms for months so needed someone to dress her, feed her, and tend to all her needs. This was a young person (30’s?)
I think you’d be better renting a bike from one of the places around town.
We now have a ton of driving lanes turned into bike lanes. Electric vehicles are not allowed on sidewalks (but regular bikes and scooters aren’t either). They are dangerous! On trash days there are trash cans in those lanes so the bikes dart out into the (now very narrow) regular lanes. Bikes only have to yield to cars and do not have to wait for red lights. Motorcycles can lane-split. It is a nightmare to just drive a car.
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Thanks to all. NYC has a zillion bike lanes. The great ones have a bike lane, then a parking lane so the bikers/scooterers/moped users are protected. Not in my neighborhood, at least nnot yet, although there is talk of setting them up the avenue under which the subway tunnels run. A significant minority of Bay Ridge drivers think they have a God-given right to free on-street parking. I.don’t.think.so.
I know a 90 plus yr old who uses one on occasion. It’s not smart but so far no accidents.
My almost 4 yr old GD is a great scooter, but she is less than 3 ft off the ground. I do t think it’s a good idea for people of our age. Even with bike lanes, people open car doors and make quick car turns that could injure scooters and bikers. Public transportation is your best bet, maybe slower, but much safer.
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It may be a bit like cycling. If you did it in younger years, giving you instincts and muscle memory it could be pretty safe (assuming minimal pedestrian/traffic interference). But to learn it as an older person involves more risk.
Rent a few different types before you buy. Make sure your electric scooter would be allowed on a bus or subway (they weren’t in denver for a while, but now electric bikes are but not IN the bus, only on the front where there is a bike platform). I’m not sure about the light rail. Be aware that electric bikes and scooters are much heavier than than manual one, and hard to get up and down stairs. Not sure if the handlebars colapse or not.
Well, now we’re moving into the strictly hypothetical. Mopeds?
Honestly…these are not the safest things to use in a big city…even with extensive bike lanes.
Plus…mopeds are not allowed in bike lanes where I live as they are more like mini motorcycles.
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Not quite a scooter, but…SIL rides his electric skateboard to work in busy central Washington DC. He takes his skateboard on the Metro with him, no issues, gets off at the stop nearest his office and skateboards the rest of the way to his office. Says skateboarding saves him 20 minutes walking.
Sometimes he even rides his skateboard in a suit and tie if he has a meeting with investors/government officials that day.
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If the “elsewhere” is someplace less crowded / safer…. consider renting the scooter/whatever after you get there.
Is this the husband of the ER doc?! Who sees all the injuries from “electric” things?
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Yes–and she makes him wear a helmet when he rides it.
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