Scooters

I see them on the road, I see them on the sidewalk, I see them on the recreational path, I see them in parking lots, and I see them in driveways, I have even seen them at the beach. There may be one, there may be two, but there are often many more. I am talking about people, usually children, riding electric scooters. Not the scooters for the handicap, but those children used to use with one foot powering the small scooter. I think they have become a current symbol of suburbia and urbanity. When Segway's came out, it was supposed to be an invention by a genius that would change the world. It never did, and they were simply, as one person said to me, a vertical sofa on two wheels. Has electrification led to that for scooters?

Electric Scooter parked at pool entrance
to the High School, author photo 9/29/25

It was sometime ago that scooters again became popular, but they were the type one had to push with a foot. I recall seeing children riding up and down the streets, sidewalks or recreational paths on the scooters. Because they were human powered, the speed was limited. Today, those scooters have been replaced by electric scooters, some of which can travel up to near 25 mph. 

This summer posts of children on scooters dominated the McFarland Community Facebook page, of which I am a member. Adults, calling out kids, adults complaining about "kids on scooters." Adults wondering where the scooters can and cannot legally be. It turns out they can be on the road, sidewalk, and paths and hence a major issue as they cut across streets at will, keeping a driver alert. They cut across intersections, they cut off from a drive into the street and cross the street. they ride down the middle of the street. I am sure the McFarland Mom's and Dad's Facebook page, (which never allowed me to be a member when I asked a couple years ago to join as apparently an over thirty year resident of the village did not qualify me to join the group) had many more posts. The funniest post was when a young man in his twenties posted that he just saw a group of children on scooters, and they were doing nothing wrong. When one considers the posts on that Community page, you can certainly think this was the outlier. It turns out he was making a joke, at least that is what the wife told me. It was funny, however. He probably got an earful from some parents.

Coming back from book club a couple weeks ago I counted seven scooters, a couple with two persons on them weaving in and out of traffic on Farwell Street. It was rather dangerous, as night was setting in and visibility was being reduced. Last week Friday, school was not in session, God forbid the kids have to go more than two full weeks of school in a row, and my wife said I should be careful on my bike ride at about 11:00 am as the kids were off of school and they would probably be out and about on their scooters. I did not see one child on a scooter, but saw a couple on bikes. I see some students going to and from school on their bikes, but now rarely scooters.

Then there is the adult who talked about the physical fitness children get from riding an electric scooter. I am not sure what he was smoking. The only thing I can think of is core strength from standing, although some now have seats. They could develop core strength from using an old fashioned scooter and pushing themselves. I had to laugh at his post. Another sofa on wheels.

I recently found out that scooters are not allowed to be ridden on the property at Indian Mound Middle School in McFarland. But, in only thinking a school district can have, they banned bicycles from being ridden on the property as well. So, you have to walk your bike. The school sits on a hill almost a quarter mile from the main street it is accessed from. Bikes may be able to sneak around the high school and football/soccer field. When our kids were young they had to park their bikes in a grass area off of Exchange Street and then walk through the grass up a steep hill to get to school. Their shoes and socks would be all wet from morning dew. At some point since my kids attended they moved the bike racks near the school and allowed bikes to be ridden on school property. Until this year when it has been ruined by scooters. Such asinine thinking can only be from a school district with no regard for the benefits of biking. It is like they wish to encourage kids to be dropped off. Our 8th grade neighbor boy is mad because the scooter riders have now ruined it for bicyclists.

Actually electric scooters have been around sometime. In the spring of 2019, I was in Washington DC attending a National Association of Clean Water Agencies meeting and while walking around noticed electric scooter stations, not unlike, they now have for the B-cycles (electric bikes) for people to rent and use. I guess sometimes for an urban professional it could make getting around the city more convenient.

Some people call out kids for bad behavior and then they get called out. It is amazing how mean people can be to one another. There was a situation this summer where a child's mom commented on Facebook about a woman who was driving her car and yelled something at her child on Farwell Street. The description of the woman was that she had "Old lady hair." As a seasoned citizen, I am not sure what constitutes "old lady" hair, probably grey. Or, maybe it was blue. The "old lady" may have been in the right, I don't recall. The woman had complained about a bike on the sidewalk, and suggested the child bike on the street in the provided bike lane. I am not sure how big the bike was, or age of the child, but bikes over 20" are not allowed on the sidewalks. Biking on sidewalks is common in the village, even by older adults. I saw a woman with old lady hair on an electric three wheeler bike on the sidewalk by the gazebo last week. 

As I bike, I wonder how long it will be before I turn up as the guy who did not stop at the stop sign on his bike and crossed the street. The thing is sometimes people fail to see a bicyclist. I had a couple drivers apologize to me for not seeing me and cutting in front of me. Some drivers are nice and will wave you through, others can't wait to cut you out. I am careful to watch out for Honda drivers. 

As I was raking leaves Saturday morning, I noticed a boy with a bike parked by the curb down the street. He was moving the leaves in the curb into a pile. I wondered if he had lost something, but he was simply making a leaf pile in the street. He then got on his bike and ran through the leaf pile. It made me say to my wife, that was something I probably would have done near sixty years ago.  Instead I made ramps and line up old pedal cars to jump over. One time I crashed and the next thing I recall, after going on the ramp, was Dr Behrend and my dad lifting me out of the back seat of the car at the clinic. This past Sunday on my bike ride I went around the cul-de-sac bulb and, as a 67 year old, went through the same pile of leaves the boy had made. I should have raked them into a bigger pile.

I had picked up the leaves in the street in front of our house, because even though the streetsweeper has been on the streets behind us at least five times this fall, it has yet to make our street. Good thing, too, otherwise there would not have been a pile of leaves to plow through on my bike. 

As fall has arrived the scooter issue in McFarland seems to have calmed down. They are not as ubiquitous as they once were. At least from what I see, although I tend to avoid traffic during school times.