Why Restricting E-scooter Motor Power Can Make Cities More Dangerous
Limiting the motor power of electric scooters is not only problematic, but may also prove to be dangerous for all users of the road…
Commuting is in the midst of a revolution. The great cities of today’s world are dominated by a young and environmentally-conscious professional class, and more than ever they are turning to electric scooters as their primary way to get to work. It’s a trend that looks set to continue; when the dust settles from the Coronavirus crisis, will people still want to force themselves into mucky steel tubes in poorly ventilated tunnels underground? Already offices are telling employees they should only return to worksites if public transport can be avoided. Seeing cycle lanes fill up with motorised scooters could well prove to be a defining image of post-Covid city life.
The pandemic has transformed our notion of what it is to share space; as a result, the idea of renting a scooter suddenly seems less appealing. How can we be sure that a rental scooter has been properly cleaned? What if it runs out of charge and I have to get another one? In the new world, many of us will be looking to minimise our contact with communal surfaces, especially in the bustling ant-colony of the modern mega-city…
