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If nothing else, folks drive cars because they can use the extra space to take passengers along (e.g. to social outings, or utilize HOV lanes when commuting to work), or the extra space just for stuff when moving, or carrying stuff in general. Some parents need the extra space if they deal with child matters as part of their everyday routine.
A little bit more than that.
When one goes to a store with a 30.06 sign and they really want to go to that store, where are they going to put it?
In either case, if one is comfortable with carrying everything they have, pick up that day on their back, then two wheeled transportation is okay. Otherwise, it sure is nice to have the car as a traveling lock box.
You see a lot of them out here in the beach towns. Traffic is so bad that you can only drive at 25 MPH on a weekend if your lucky and parking is a lot easier to find with a scooter.
Because you're exposed to the elements and are extremely vulnerable in case of any, even the most minor collision with a 5,000 lbs car traveling at 75mph. What could be a light bumper scratch had you been in a car, would send you flying over the freeway under the wheels of other cars. No, thanks.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Originally Posted by randomparent
Not in Colorado. I just looked it up. You must have a driver's license. We, however, have a couple of "special" neighborhood families who don't think the rules apply to them, and they'd better hope they don't get caught, because the fines for unlicensed operation are steep.
Yes, here it requires a regular driver license, and the same with a moped. There is no motorized vehicle allowed on city streets without a license.
Too dangerous. You ride a 2 wheeler on the highway in Fla. and you are a daredevil. For whatever reason many older drivers don't see the bikes and pull out in front. Happens frequently in the Sarasota area. I do ride a bicycle but only in slow going neighborhoods or a bike trail.
Bikes are hard to see in a mirror, especially if you're driving a SUV. They fit perfectly into the blind spot. My friend went to a motorcycle driving school and they told the students the most common accident is when a car changes lanes and hits a motorcycle just behind it, and the explanation is always "i didn't see him". I am always turning my head back to scan the area behind me when switching lanes and yet a couple of times I nearly hit someone on a bike, luckily I could hear them in the traffic. They are just not where you expect to see something. Harleys at least are loud, what I hate are those fast crutch rockets that sound like a crazy high pitch circular saw, they are often flying at twice the speed limit weaving all over and are hard to see and hard to hear. Just that past year a local kid got killed when he clipped a school bus. Had he been in a car it would've been just a small fender bender.
I can see riding a scooter in a low speed urban area, but even a large motorcycle is a death trap on a freeway. We have tons of boat-tugging trucks in the summer months, not something I'd want to share the road with while on two wheels going at 80 mph.
Plus the winters.
Plus the distances. I commute almost 30 miles one way.
Actually lots of people ride them near both of my houses (which are both in major cities near universities). I see scooters and small motorcycles everywhere.
Small scooters are the vehicular equivalent to Russian Roulette in the land of self-absorbed suburban dreadnought captains who can't even be bothered to drive their cars anymore without letting the electronic accident avoidance controls kick in between every stoplight. Plus they aren't fast enough to keep up with traffic, necessitating a ride on the shoulder while hoping that hundreds of texting moms angrily rushing kids to school are paying attention. Not really a good combination.
Also you don't want to stuff a 12" wheel into a 6" pothole, which rules out safe operation on a large number of American roads that are better left to dual sport bikes, if not full blown dirt bikes.
Most of people have garages or place to store their cars.
Scooters are cheap, get crazy MPG and easy to park.
You can still keep your car and use scooter sometimes to commute.
Even you can cut 3.000 miles in a year it would be terrific saving.
Both gas and CO2.
I have a friend who really wanted a motorcycle, but couldn't get on one due to a bad back.
So he bought a $6k scooter and took the motorcycle test to get the proper license for the scooter.
He found it perfectly OK on rural low speed roads..@30-40MPH.
BUT on any road, any speed above 40, or a side-by-side passing of a vehicle on multi-lane roads {highways}, especially tractor trailers, was "rocking his boat" and caused the scooter to become unstable.
A waitress at our fav diner had one, but complained about having to go extra miles out of her way to avoid the highways for the same reason.
For those reasons I for one, will NOT be in a rush to get a scooter! AS soon as I leave my small development I have NO CHOICE but to enter a 55MPH 4 lane divided hiway {rural part of a parkway style} to get anywhere from here.
It's too cold here 7 months a year. It's hard to transport anything on them. Their top speed is rather limited. Some people just don't feel 'safe' on them and don't want to have to load up with helmets and other gear just to get from place to place. You have to worry about rain, the cold, etc. Gas is not expensive enough to take such actions.... cars get pretty good gas mileage these days... you're harder to see and cars are more apt to be distracted and turn right in to you.. need I go on?
I don't want a motorcycle because I'd rather ride around on my road bike and get exercise.. the motorcycle would just take away from road biking time... plus the wind noise and worse, the loud exhausts on some of the bikes, again having to wear long pants and other protective gear when I can road bike in shorts and T-shirt...
Nobody's really mentioned this yet, but I would assume you can't really listen to the radio/music/books on tape etc. while you're riding a scooter or a motorcycle. Besides all the safety and comfort reasons why I would never ride any 2 wheel vehicle to work, I would go crazy if I couldn't listen to anything during my hour+ daily commute.
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