Be careful

[Grosvenor]

Scooters are currently taking the UK by storm. Sales have rocketed over the past year; mainly due inpart to the escallating price that we are paying at the pumps. Personally I would normally have my scooter tucked away for the winter at this time of the year - however I am still using it to get to work and back.

Ok so there have been a few ‘moments’ and I have been freezing and soaked some nights but my wallet is enjoying the saving. However last night someone came into the shop and asked a question that I hate answering (because I have answered it so many times). Are scooters a safe mode of transport?

Motor scooters, both electric scooters and gas scooters, are a style of miniature motorcycle that have a step through frame and have become a very popular method of travel all over the world. They have been scooting out of show rooms at record speed. But what many people do not realize is that motor scooters are classified as motor vehicles when it comes to highway regulations. And although they are an object of desire for many they can also be dangerous for many.

Scooters are like cars; if you drive or ride like an idiot you will end up dead in a ditch or even worse killing someone else and ending up dead in a ditch. The amount of responsibility that you are trusted with is crazy. However unlike cars you can ride a scooter at the age of 16. (We have some great tips about getting cheaper scooter insurance for teens available).

With a careful riding a scooter can be as safe as any other vehicle on the road. But accidents frequently occur when scooter drivers think they are exempt from the conventions that apply to cars. Another thing to keep in mind is that scooters don’t offer the same protection as a car. Just like a motorbike you need to be extra vigilant while on a scooter. You might also want to put the scooter away for 5 months over winter.

Darting in and out of traffic with little driving experience, on a motor scooter that is so small it cannot be seen by other drivers, poses a hazard to both the scooter driver and other motorists traveling the highway. To be safe a motor scooter driver must think of himself as being invisible to the other drivers making their way down the busy streets. A scooter driver cannot assume that other drivers will see them.

A safe approach for a scooter driver would be to assume that they are completely invisible to other drivers and then act accordingly. A motor scooter rider must be ready to maneuver out of harm’s if another driver makes a sudden unexpected movement. Being safe means staying alert at all times. Being safe also means following the rules of the road and not making unnecessary or risky moves in traffic that would cause their moped scooter to dart out in front of another moving vehicle. Automobile drivers must have time to react to a scooter driver’s movements.

There are many reasons to own a motorized scooter. They are often used for traveling short distances around the neighborhood to perform errands. Due to their size, fuel-efficiency, weight, and typically larger storage room than a motorcycle, they are ideal in this situation. But in the hands of the youth, without any previous driving experience, they can be deadly.

The quadbikes, go carts, dirt bikes and mini bikes are other racing vehicles that are often owned and operated by younger drivers. quadbikess are usually used off road along with dirt bikes and mini bikes. Go karts are typically driven on paved tracks specifically made for the go cart. The go kart, mini bike, dirt bike or quadbikess don’t usually get out on the open road where there are cars to contend with. Therefore they also avoid many of the dangers that scooter drivers must face.

Kids often think of motor scooters as toys, not as adult vehicles. But a scooter is not a toy. It’s a potentially dangerous motor vehicle subject to certain laws and regulations. Also, youth often think of themselves as being immune to automobile driving regulations and immune to accidents as well. “It won’t happen to me” is a very common attitude among the youth. But it’s precisely this attitude that can get them into trouble.

People need to be aware of the potential motor scooter dangers and take appropriate action. Scooter riders should pay special attention while driving, making sure not to drive erratically, but to be predictable and courteous to other drivers on the road.

Both kids and adults need training and experience before attempting to maneuver their scooters out in traffic. If parents will take a little time to train their children, making sure they are aware of the rules of the road before they are allowed to travel on them, it could make driving a pleasure instead of a danger. With a little training and some wise words of advice we can all make a difference in the lives of the youth. Give them some training and experience and their motor scooters may be an object of fun instead of injury.

[chris-red]

If a kid on a scoot keeps up with me I deserve to have my bike nicked!
____________________
Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Grosvenor]

[chris-red]

[Mushroom]

Bikes are stupidly easy to ring when the frame numbers went off mine to get it through an mot i did not even have to have the frame stamped again,just used a bit of crap metal and put it on the frame .

[Grosvenor]

[chris-red]

[chris-red]

A13 - Commerical RD/ST

OR A13-limehouse Commerical-ST
____________________
Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Grosvenor]

[hellkat]

My bikes are so shite I can't imagine a kid on a ped wanting to nick 'em.

Chris: have I held you up along the A13 on my GPZ500 yet? : I do hope not! I have another even more annoying bike at the moment, a nice big slow old XJ900 - apparently it won't do over 70 for some unknown reason (even then, I rarely get it over 40) and it has the clutch from hell, and half a gear change lever, so I ride it worse than I ride the other one.

Look out for the fat old mad bird cussing at traffic on the beaten up XJ900
____________________
Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Flip]

I'd be more worried about people knocking bikers to the floor at petrol stations and taking the bikes tbh. (Apparently this is also happening).

[Grosvenor]

[Flip]

It does sound like MCN material.

[Nai]

[Grosvenor]

Give them a break.
They could be tomorrows long term bikers.
I get so sick of born again and new older riders criticising people who represent the future of biking.
What the hell do you knoe about it.
Oh that's right, you just done your test a year ago, and that makes you some sort of authority.
Fuck off.
Give me a dozen keen young scooterists over one boring inexperienced old fart like you.

[Flip]

[rob_scott92]

[Nai]

*chuckles* Wow your an angry fella!

When they become commuters / bikers / cyclists / drivers and normal members of society ill accept them. I have a lack of time for most sub groups that seem to try to live up to their name. From the 'riding hell for leather' motorcyclists, kids on scooters riding dangerously, and fixie cyclists when fixies became popular. To many of them removed the brakes from their bikes then crashed into anything and everything cause they couldn't control their bikes.

*shrugs*

Riding / driving badly due to inexperience is one thing. Riding / driving baldy cause your being a muppet, that's something else altogether.

[L4Isoside]

Im assuming by that comment that you havent seen any "bod poi's" around towns then?

Also, i agree, i've yet to see a scoot keep up with me in town and i only commute 2.5 miles home

[Nai]

[Grosvenor]

[Nai]

[Grosvenor]

Well then you must be one of a few.
When I htink back to when I was a teen and what I got up too, but then this is all part of growing up.
Recently I was at a bike meet when a load of kids came in on scoots.
I went over to look because a few of them looked very tasty.
These kids were dumbfounded that one of the "big boys" actually wanted to talk to them and was taking an interest in their bikes.
It clearly wasn't something they were used too, and you know what ?
That's ashame.
It's sad that on the whole, we seem reluctant to aknowledge them, instead choosing to judge them.
Feeling a part of something is very important to kids, and just by being friendly, showing an interest and maybe just giving them a wave on the road, might just make them think that it's great to be a biker, which in turn might encourage them to stick it out, rather than buy a Nova as soon as they're old enough.

[ms51ves3]

[Grosvenor]