THE BULL
Sharing that old adage that “kids will be kids,” hits home for me. I was a kid, doing kid things back in the early to late 1970s, peddling my bike all over my hometown of Shelton. I’m sure that I freaked a few people out, because in fact, kids will be kids, and not pay attention to their surroundings when they are out and about while riding their bikes, or playing ball in the front yard and a ball goes into the street.
But Friday, July 4, I was that “old man” that got the heebie jeeby scared out of him, because a kid was being a kid. The irony of this situation is that I had just had a conversation last week with a business owner sharing concern over the new fad, or at least recent fad, of motorized/electric scooters that have been popping up over the course of the past few years, especially when school is not in session.
Said business owner shared a story that recently, as he was backing out of a parking stall in downtown Sutton, in an older model vehicle that doesn’t have the backup camera that he narrowly missed a tragic situation with a youngster driving down Saunders Avenue at a high rate of speed, right behind a row of vehicles.
This business owner shared that the narrow miss shook them up to the point that they returned to their parking spot, put the vehicle in park, and sat there for a few minutes just to gather themselves a bit before trying again. The challenge in that situation, according to the business owner, was that they were blocked from view down the street by a larger SUV, so inching out was the only way to proceed with leaving that afternoon.
Fast forward, just three days after talking with this business owner, I went through the same scary situation on July 4. After returning to Sutton after a quick trip out of town, as I was driving down Maltby Avenue, and one of the several intersections along Maltby, I had a heart racing encounter with a scooter and a youngster at that intersection. I watched them blow through said intersection at what felt like a high rate of speed, and to the point that had I not been paying attention, that situation could have been bad, I mean really bad.
Thankfully, as I’ve always said in the Bull, many times over the past 16 years, I’m a “putzer,” one who isn’t in a big hurry, to the point that I’ve had a few middle fingers flying at me now and then. So be it.
So my plea with the Bull this week is, while I always try to plead with drivers of all ages to slow down, maybe, just maybe it’s time to relay to the youth, no matter if it’s in Sutton, or any community in Clay County is to have a conversation with kids about safety on our streets.
In no way shape or form am I saying that we need to get rid of motorized/ electric scooters. Remember, I was a kid as well, and I most likely freaked some drivers out back in my day of pedaling my bike all around Shelton.
My point is, these scooters really can scoot, and I mean fast. Let the kids know that there are speed limits put in place in all of our communities for a reason...for safety!
I’ve seen scooters blazing a trail past my house, down sidewalks, in the middle of streets that are going well past posted speed limits, and it’s dangerous. My plea isn’t to take scooters away, or bikes for that matter, but it’s to make sure kids riding these scooters know and understand that safety has to become a much bigger part of cruising around our communities, and pay attention to their surroundings.
My situation on July 4 could have easily put a huge damper on the holiday for a family, and myself. It honestly took me a while to calm down, get my wits about me when I pulled into my driveway, as it was for the downtown business owner.
This isn’t a warning by any means, it’s a plea to share the safety to kids controlling these scooters, because when you can see the pupils of a kid, riding a scooter, that close through your front windshield, as I did last Friday, it’s to close for comfort as a driver of a vehicle that weighs well over a thousand pounds.
In my situation, I couldn’t help thinking what would have happened had I not been paying attention, and caught this youngster out of my side view in time to stop. Had that been on Highway 6 through Sutton, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to stop at 40 miles per hour, compared to putzing along at 20 miles per hour on Maltby.
It was a scary situation that I do feel is worth mentioning, because I don’t want to be the driver of a vehicle that hits one of our young community members. Please share with your children that when cruising along to pay attention to their speed, whether on the street, on a sidewalk, or in the downtown business area, or anywhere for that matter.
If someone is cruising in the business district and somebody walks out of a door, that collision between the scooter driver and the person walking out of the door could be really hard as well.
Just be safe and careful, that is all I want. I do NOT want to curb the use of scooters, bikes, or anything, I just want safety to be on the top of the priority list for families and drivers of vehicles alike.
