ScooterSafe

London authorities have organized ScooterSafe London, a great program where police meet with riders and observe their riding, offering tips and recommendations. New and experienced riders are welcome. It’d be great to see U.S. municipalities taking a pro-active approach to safety rather than relying on reactionary legislation. Of course, the “bad guys” won’t participate (a recent Chicago Sun-Times story quoted police saying only 15% of motorcycle speeders are caught in Chicago), but new riders and responsible citizens deserve a chance to learn good habits.

Big Ben loses more respect

FOX Sports reports that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not get involved in any safety advocacy campaigns, instead, he will make excuses (“my helmet was in the basement!”) whine about how hard it is to “live life under a microscope” and let people “make their own decisions.” My decision is to abandon my 30+ years of Pittsburgh Steelers fandom because their quarterback is no better than your average gun-toting, date-raping NFL felon.

Back from vacation

If 2sb seemed a little slow last week, it was, we were in Michigan all week. Thanks to Cy for knocking out some posts, and we managed a few posts from a coffeeshop, but we’ve got a big backlog of news waiting to be posted, so check back often. In the meantime, let us add our best wishes to Zac Johnson and his family, as Cy noted, you can track his progress and help out via zacsfund.blogspot.com.

Child Riding Belts

I’ve ridden up and down the alley a couple times with Milena precariously set upon the floorboards of my Vespa, but I look forward to the day I can take her for a real ride. While toddlers riding as passengers on motorcycles is a way of life in many countries, it’s a bit frowned upon in the U.S. Now, thanks to the Child Riding Belt (Invented, obviously, in Canada, and clearly labeled as “not a safety device”) I’ll be able to tote her around as soon as I can find a helmet that fits. Or maybe not. Thanks for the link, Mad Man Maddox.

ATL Scooterist Down

Atlanta scooterist and Stellaspeed owner Zac Johnson was involved in a crash on Sunday with an SUV that made an illegal turn in front of him.
He is currently in a coma in hospital.
A fund has been set up for him, his wife and his 2 week old child.
The Paypal address is zacsfund@yahoo.com
Please read more about his accident
2Strokebuzz staff wish him a fast recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Update: A blog has been set up to follow Zac’s progress

Two Stella/LML rumors:

An unregistered user “Dr. Sparks” claimed yesterday on the ScooterBBS that he’d heard that a british concern was trying to buy the Star/Stella tooling from LML, not with the intention of producing the bikes, but simply to prevent its destruction. Today a rumor is circulating that LML distributors have been contacted by LML and notified that the Star would no longer be produced. Both these rumors are thirdhand and unsubstantiated, and it’s unclear whether LML’s recent financial shuffling signals a plan to reorganize or a final cash-in to pay creditors. 2SB rarely posts rumors, but it sounds like we can expect big news about LML soon.