I have no problem with scooters. Or bicycles. If the operator is caught endangering other drivers, riders or pedestrians, they should be cited. Accumulate enough citations and the court will suspend your scooter/bicycle license. Problem solved.

Oh by the way, you do have your scooter liability insurance paid up, right?

At least you can get a decade or more out of a car. The lifespan of this e-waste on wheels is measured in months. It's pointless clutter, and pedestrians already have enough shit to dodge on narrow Seattle sidewalks, including literal shit.

And also...just...c'mon man. It's a fucking scooter. Look at it. You're a grown man. There are plenty of other ways to virtue signal you are doing your part for the planet that are less aesthetically laughable.

I should theoretically be a supporter of this, but I'm not.

I'm a big supporter of any and all forms of public transportation. I think we should have a lot more of it, and it should be free to ride. I think big SUVs should be taxed into the ground. I think all new vehicles should be required to get 40+ MPG within 5 years, and require half of vehicle fleets to be electric, including most trucks and SUVs. I think we should triple the gas tax (yeah, I know it's regressive, but everything's a trade-off). I think we should spend a lot more effort and money adding bike lanes.

But scooters? No. For the reasons you lay out, they're not terribly safe on busy roads. But you totally dodge how dangerous they are on sidewalks. Why do you want to ride a scooter instead of walk? Because they're faster than walking, right? The fact that they're 2-3 times faster than walking makes them a hazard on sidewalks. Sooner or later, you're gonna hit a pedestrian. You probably won't kill them, but when you hit a pedestrian at 10mph or more, it's going to cause injury (you cite the extremely low death rate of scooter accidents, but conveniently leave out any mention of injuries). I think scooters should absolutely be banned from sidewalks.

You don't want to walk or use public transit? Use a bike. And keep those off the sidewalks too.

"Imagine if every car came equipped with a camera that could detect when the vehicle’s blocking a sidewalk, crosswalk, or bike lane, and sounded an alarm to nag the driver back to where they’re supposed to be. What bliss! Well, bliss for everyone except drivers, who would be incredibly annoyed that their car is telling them how to drive. Oh well!"

In the very first paragraph, Matt unintentionally tells us he knows absolutely nothing about safety measures already available in modern cars like lane-keeping assistance, forward collision warning, and automatic emergency braking. But we all know accuracy wasn't the point of this article; it was always about the outrage clicks.

Operators throwing caution to the wind, putting their lives in the hands of other motor vehicles operators. I hope the statistics continue to bear out this apparent method as safe.
I appreciate the thrill of a risk taking nature. To be sure, though, it is a motor vehicle even if it is powered by electricity. Drive accordingly, and safely. That three to a scooter thing is not it.

@1 - no shit. I'm about ready to toss one of the goddamn things into the Ship Canal when I come across yet another one lying across the Burke or blocking the bike path on the Aurora Bridge.

@9: Touché. I almost spit coffee out so hilarious.

@9 you made my day!!!

I was nearly clipped over the weekend by some dickhead on a scooter whizzing down a sidewalk next to the Ave. 25 mph is the speed limit on the street, hump!

@9: That was amazing! Thank you, adding my voice to @11 & @12. :-D

@2 Matt Baume has been the most insufferable Stranger writer since he joined the paper...or was it Rich Smith? Gawd. Hard to decide.

@5, 2nd paragraph: Exactly. We're not "afraid" of scooters, we're afraid of being seen on a scooter.

What's next, Matt? A long-form essay on the benefits of a fleet of oversize Big Wheels that can both 'save the environment' AND extinguish whatever remaining shred of dignity you may have had?

@6: You seem to be assuming that all sidewalk usage is being done at the same speed at road usage.

I think every time I've used an e-scooter on a sidewalk it has been at less than max speed.

Your comparison of car and scooter deaths is totally misleading. Car deaths given are worldwide and scooter deaths are national. Auto fatalities in the US in 2019 were 36,000. True, there is still a large difference between them but so are the total miles driven.
Why have bikes been mostly replaced by scooters? Bikes have an inherent stability due to the gyroscopic effect while scooters are made to topple over.

@17 "Bikes have an inherent stability due to the gyroscopic effect while scooters are made to topple over." Yeah, but you have to PEDAL a bicycle, which our tubby populace eschews. Might actually burn a few calories. Increase fitness while decreasing fatness. Can't have that.