This delivery scooter is all of a piece, red bandanna red ice chest which is how you know it's making deliveries on a red scooter. Besides he looks cool and in control of his machine.
Key West is the exception to the rule in so many different ways when it comes to North American cities- a place of tolerance for the most part, at the southern tip of the most intolerant states in the nation; a town with a reasonably balanced budget in a nation collapsing under the weight of fiscal disorder; the only town in Florida that saw an increase in tourist traffic over the previous year. And it's two wheeler friendly.
Riding a skateboard (illegally on Duval) will save you money on transportation. Some people think that riding a motorcycle will save them money if they use the bike instead of a car. Not so, if you want to save money drive a Yaris or similar and forget the motorcycle. In this country motorcycles are designed and sold as toys, a fact that drives me nuts because I view my Bonneville as my primary transportation unless I'm hauling my family around. I passed these guys on Highway One on the way into town and I was glad to see they made it to Sloppy Joe's in one piece.
Key West is a place where riding a scooter is absolutely the norm. If you prefer to ride a bicycle you will be in the mainstream also. Indeed during the last hurricane evacuation city officials who calculate these things figured fully one third of Key West's residents had no car. (There was a constant stream of buses from the high school to the shelter in Kendall for people who wanted to leave town but lacked the wheels).
If you are 21 years of age and have health insurance you are allowed to ride without a helmet and to ride a 50cc scooter you only need a car license. Even insurance is optional. I think it's a shame that scooters are viewed as toys even as bicycles are in most of this country. There's a lot of talk in the US about eliminating dependence on foreign oil but in the picture above you are looking at the best way to do it. Are you ready? 
Even tourists who come to town and take to the freedom of the rental scooter like the good folks above don't seem to take the lessons of simplicity and good sense home with them. I ride because I really enjoy being on two wheels and I know it's not for everybody but I think we'd have a lot less road rage if we had more people enjoying the freedom of two wheels. Call me a dreamer but I'm not the only one.
Key West is the exception to the rule in so many different ways when it comes to North American cities- a place of tolerance for the most part, at the southern tip of the most intolerant states in the nation; a town with a reasonably balanced budget in a nation collapsing under the weight of fiscal disorder; the only town in Florida that saw an increase in tourist traffic over the previous year. And it's two wheeler friendly.
Riding a skateboard (illegally on Duval) will save you money on transportation. Some people think that riding a motorcycle will save them money if they use the bike instead of a car. Not so, if you want to save money drive a Yaris or similar and forget the motorcycle. In this country motorcycles are designed and sold as toys, a fact that drives me nuts because I view my Bonneville as my primary transportation unless I'm hauling my family around. I passed these guys on Highway One on the way into town and I was glad to see they made it to Sloppy Joe's in one piece.Key West is a place where riding a scooter is absolutely the norm. If you prefer to ride a bicycle you will be in the mainstream also. Indeed during the last hurricane evacuation city officials who calculate these things figured fully one third of Key West's residents had no car. (There was a constant stream of buses from the high school to the shelter in Kendall for people who wanted to leave town but lacked the wheels).If you are 21 years of age and have health insurance you are allowed to ride without a helmet and to ride a 50cc scooter you only need a car license. Even insurance is optional. I think it's a shame that scooters are viewed as toys even as bicycles are in most of this country. There's a lot of talk in the US about eliminating dependence on foreign oil but in the picture above you are looking at the best way to do it. Are you ready? 
Even tourists who come to town and take to the freedom of the rental scooter like the good folks above don't seem to take the lessons of simplicity and good sense home with them. I ride because I really enjoy being on two wheels and I know it's not for everybody but I think we'd have a lot less road rage if we had more people enjoying the freedom of two wheels. Call me a dreamer but I'm not the only one.
2 comments:
It is hard to picture road rage between scooters. I would like to see much more around, not as fun vehicles but as normal means of economical transport.
One can only hope.
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