Brad (aka “Orangeguy”) from the Quad Cities started a new grim but useful website a few weeks ago to catalog scooter injuries and fatalities found via Google News. I see these stories every day while I’m scouring for scooter news, and it’s disturbing how many you come across even after you filter out (as Brad does) duplicate reports and pushscooter/senior mobility scooter stories. It’s sad that many of the fatalities and critical injuries are suffered by unlicensed and untrained riders (often preteen children) and/or people riding on public roads on non DOT-EPA-appoved scooters, often with no helmet.
Depending on where you live, you are expected to comply with laws when you ride, and you’re also given choices about safety precautions beyond mere compliance with the law. How you decide to ride is up to you, and there are certainly enough stories on Scootcrash.com involving well-protected and experienced rider. But experience and education always lead to better decisions and reactions. There are a lot of more positive and proactive ways to collect experience and education, but anytime you’re feeling like you have all the experience and education you need, Scootcrash.com is a good place to prove that you’re wrong.
I can’t imagine Brad will continue to do this site for long, it’s a time-consuming and depressing (but worthwhile) task.
Yikes! I went to the site and right at the top found an article from last Friday about a guy here in Richmond who ran into the back of a dump truck and suffered serious head injuries. Let’s be careful out there everybody.