Dear editor:
I was very disappointed to see that City Council has added Penticton to the list of cities allowing E-scooters to be legally used here. While they aren’t allowed on sidewalks, for some reason Penticton will be allowing these scooters to be ridden on the Promenades on both Skaha and Okanagan Lakes.
This, in my opinion is an accident(s) waiting to happen.It wasn’t long ago when a woman was seriously hit by a standard skateboard on the Lakeshore Promenade. I cannot imagine the injuries that could occur if a pedestrian was hit by a heavy E-scooter.
These two promenades, while being wider than a standard sidewalk, see a lot of pedestrian traffic. Its completely wrong to allow anyone on an E-Scooter on these walkways. I expect our ER to be busier after these things hit the streets. Kelowna ER doctors have stated their opinions on E-Scooters and they were not in favor of them whatsoever.
Helmets are required under B.C. law for E-Scooters but who is going to enforce that rule? The ones on Lakeshore presently for rent don’t even have helmets available. Whichever company decides to set up shop here, renting them should be read the riot act regarding the rules in place and carefully watched to ensure that riders and the companies are following the rules. Kudos to both James Miller and Helena Konanz for voting against the usage; they obviously understand the dangers.
Allan C.L. Stark
Penticton
READ MORE: Electric scooters become street legal in Penticton