Scooter rider revs up safety debate
AUSTIN — The Lime scooter cuts across four lanes of I-35 traffic before the rider drifts out of view. The video, posted by Dallas-area Fox 4 News this week, was too much for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who vented on Twitter.
“That does it,” Abbott tweeted. “I believe in less government. But allowing these scooters on crowded interstate highways is bad government and endangers public safety. Action is needed.”
The Legislature considered imposing statewide scooter restrictions, but the bill ultimately crashed.
Legislation by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, would have limited scooter use to those over age 16 and to streets with speed limits of less than 35 mph. Though the measure passed the state Senate, it didn’t gain traction in the House.
The biggest speed bump: whether scooterriders should be able to zoom down sidewalks.
Sen. Joan Huffman, RHouston, advocated a prohibition, saying she has almost been hit three times by scooters “moving at a very rapid pace” on a sidewalk in Austin.
But other senators — some of whom are regular scooter-riders — said sometimes it’s safer to be on the sidewalk than in traffic.
Texas cities are already taking steps to regulate scooter use in their downtowns, as public health officials have raised concern about the safety hazards.
San Antonio recently banned scooter use on city sidewalks. Violators can face a class C misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $500 fine.
It’s likely an issue lawmakers will tackle when they return to Austin in 2021.
“The House Committee on Transportation will be studying the influx of scooters in Texas this interim in order to ensure that the state is adequately addressing this rapidly growing, but largely unregulated transportation option,” Rep. Terry Canales, DEdinburg, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said in a statement.