Operating that one SOBER would give me cold-sweat nightmares!
And the potential for that happening is why I think it should still be an offense, just not of the same weight. That being said a car in an urban area that can’t stop when presented with an unexpected obstacle without swerving into a bus stop is not operating safely for the conditions.
Scale of actual harm matters. There have been 7 people killed by cyclists in NYC since 2011 and another 11 between 1985 and 2005 ( I don’t have data on hand for the years between). In contrast cars kill about that many people each month in the city. They aren’t the same risk.
Here in Hawaii the courts have found that since you don’t need a license to operate a bicycle, even though the road use laws do apply to bicyclists they can’t have their driving license revoked for violating them. I believe the same situation would hold for e-scooters, since AFAIK there is no requirement here to have a license. In the German situation, since the license is required for operation, revocation makes sense.
I don’t know what various US state laws are w/r to e-scooter licenses, but maybe those which are trying to limit their use should require one and then enforce penalties for scooting without a license.
Still better than getting shot.
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