I don’t think I need to go any further on the “gay rights” part of the title than to mention a quick skim of previous blogs (here and here) will give you an explanation of the happenings in the Springfield, Missouri community.
So on to the “murder” part of the title.
Over the course of the past two months, six people have been murdered and two more shot within walking distance of my home (here, here, and here). Our local officials are split on whether public safety should be a priority, and if so how making it a priority should be carried out (here). The Police Department union has recently picketed outside City Hall (here) due to their disgust of city government.
You would think this would be enough to keep our City Council on their feet, busy, trying to find an extinguisher to put out whatever fire they can and as soon as possible.
So, imagine my surprise when I open the paper today and see two of our councilmen playing with matches.
Yep! Apparently the nanny state concept has once again popped it’s little head out in Springfield.
It seems we now need to discuss how to regulate scooters! Yes, as if our city officials didn’t have their hands full, we are now going to discuss whether or not we need to regulate scooters by telling their operators they need helmets, insurance, and can’t have more than one person on a scooter at a time.
I want to laugh and cry at the same time. What a joke!
Here’s an idea. Given the fact we have as many, if not more, bicycle riders on the road than we do scooters, and given bicycles go just as fast as scooters (30mph for bicycles, also stated as the top speed for a 50cc scooter in the News-Leader article linked above), and given many of the bicyclists I’ve come across think they have the right to ignore traffic laws (especially stop signs), let’s place the same rules on bike riders as we do scooter drivers. And if we don’t or aren’t willing to do the same, we have a false argument.
It’s about safety and needing to cover costs in accidents – so say the advocates. I would argue that at 30 miles per hour a bicycle would do damage to a car and also would have the same impact to a human head in an accident. So there is now a need to use police to babysit bike riders who don’t have helmets on… and they will need to “show their papers” when pulled over.
Further, we should tell all children to stop letting other children ride on pegs as passengers.
Honestly, I don’t even really know how else to argue such a ridiculous concept. Do we really need to have our city council deciding trash like this? Yes, this is trash.
My thought is all the people in favor of this… all ten of them… are people who simply get irked by scooters on the road. It’s about their pet peeves, not about any true concern for safety.
That’s what I submit to you.
While I write this, I do have a request to the city to get some stats on bicycle vs car accidents and also scooter vs car accidents.
I can’t wait for the results; if I was a betting man I would bet it will confirm to us all this is exactly what it sounds like: Trash!
Southwest Missouri Thinker 