Rental scooters are one thing. We haven’t even made a rational law about
non-electric kick scooters in general, let alone one about electrics . Non-electrics are allowed on the sidewalk, but not in bike lanes, and not on the road.
The latter I can understand, but not in bike lanes?
Free "rental" services will ultimately lead to the destruction or theft of the property. Docked rental scooters tied to your debit/credit card would likely offer up about as much problem as our current similar bike service (ie; nil to none).
We need a rational discussion and proper definitions of what's allowed where.
Frankly, there's little difference between the
Emmo Ado and a
Vespa Primavera except what's driving the wheels. Oh, and that because of that the Emma doesn't require a helmet, license, plate, or insurance, but the Vespa does. Some accountability and a show of responsibility for the delivery riders buzzing up a busy narrow sidewalk on a one-way street might be nice (watch Charles St. on any given weeknight between 5-8pm and you'll be astounded at how many do this).
And I'd love to see a realistic definition of what's classified as an "e-bike"; because this monstrosity, with it's poorly placed, removable vestigial pedals, was specifically designed to fit through all the loopholes in the category of "e-bike" as defined by this city:
Zone II GTS EV bike for adults popular in Canada BC & AB featuring SafeSeal lithium battery, high power controller, and no drivers license requirement.
emmo.ca