Moped drivers must loosae IQ when buying a moped

[Akasa]

I see moped drivers doing stupid stuff ALL THE TIME, but today I thought I might have to stick around and be a witness to an accident.

Imagine a light that has a left turn signal, traffic is going both directions, the left turn signal is not on. In the middle of traffic moped driver turns left, right in front of oncoming traffic which has to slam on breaks to keep from turning him into paste. Both oncoming lanes of traffic are stopped because of this guy and he just zigs and zags to get around the stopped cars to finish his turn.

[wolfie]

Some people are alive only because it's too much paperwork if you run them over.

[Aria]

Aren't moped's technically illegal up here? I'm pretty sure they are. By 'technically' I mean that the government made it so difficult to have them that no one bothers.

[Akasa]

I don't know where "up here" is, but in Hawaii they're very common.

[Flying Grype]

I see a lot of them in Toronto, during the warmer seasons. People who want fuel efficiency and don't need a multi-passenger car tend to pick them up. Fortunately, most of them seem to understand that they are vehicles and that they need to obey traffic rules.

[BrenDAnn]

Yeah, most of the pre-drivers license age teens around here have mopeds as well. A lot of people who maybe can't get a car, or a license or whatever, have them too. I've never seen any be quite that stupid though! Wow!

[dalesys]

Whee! I'm three! I've got wheels!

[JambaBamba]

In California to drive a moped or a scooter (I don't know about electric bicycles) you need to have a motorcycle license (written test at DMV and then either a driving test there or an approved motorcycle training course).

A lot of scooter drivers I've talked to don't know they actually need a special license to drive one; they think they are able to just get on and go.

I've seen people drive them on the sidewalks, in the bike lane acting like a bicycle. When I was getting my motorcycle license and going through the training course one of the scooter owners said she'd only been on her scooter 3 times and every time she'd crashed. Twice she forgot how to break and ran into her garage...

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Yeah, most of the pre-drivers license age teens around here have mopeds as well. A lot of people who maybe can't get a car, or a license or whatever, have them too. I've never seen any be quite that stupid though! Wow!

Wow am I glad I live in MA now. Here you can only get a 50cc engine at highest and drive up to 25 mph if you don't have a motorcycle license, yes even for scooters. (Here a 50cc engine or lower is classified as moped, anything higher is a scooter.)

I'm actually looking into getting my motorcycle license (or an addendum to my driver's license, as it were.) I want me a scooter

[wolfie]

In Ontario, there's a spectrum:

"M" license: motorcycles

"ML" license: limited-speed motorcycles (restrictions on displacement and top speed), covering mopeds and small scooters. If you've got the full "M" license, it covers these too (just like my "AC" license for semitrailers and non-school buses also covers cars).

E-bikes: Limits on wattage of the motor, and on top speed, must be able to be pedalled. Must be at least 16, wear a helmet, and not have a suspended driver's license.

Bicycles: No license at all needed.

[protege]

You don't see many mopeds here in Pittsburgh. Some of it is because they can't handle the hills, some of it is because of the weather. But, the few that are here...seem to be owned by idiots.

I'm talking about the guy who insists on taking his beat-up moped out on Route 28. That piece of shit can barely do 40mph...and he's in a 55mph zone. I used to see him every morning--with traffic backed up for miles behind him. When people did pass, it usually earned him the "Pittsburgh Salute" as well as a "get the fuck off the road" scream from the driver.

Then there are people who insist on parking them on the damn sidewalks...which is illegal here. Even more fun, is to see the owners' reactions when said vehicles are loaded up onto a flatbed and removed

[dragon_wings]

In Tennessee you can ride a moped/scooter without a license if it's under 50 cc's. My roommate refuses to learn to drive so I have to take her to and from work every day. My parents' bought her a scooter (they haven't gotten it yet though) to stop my bitching about having to interrupt my sleep when I work nights.

[Racket_Man]

the mopeds/scooters piloted around here have rust for brains drivers. They talk, text, weave in and out of traffic and generally act like the own the road with nothing else on the road.

[kpzra]

I had one almost run me over when I was in the bike lane, on my bike. Then I almost hit the same idiot later that day going to the next town over (30ish miles away) when he was doing 45ish on the side of the road (65mph zone) and decided to get into the regular lane without looking. The cop going the other way flipped around and last I saw was having a chat with him.

[wolfie]

In Tennessee you can ride a moped/scooter without a license if it's under 50 cc's. My roommate refuses to learn to drive so I have to take her to and from work every day. My parents' bought her a scooter (they haven't gotten it yet though) to stop my bitching about having to interrupt my sleep when I work nights.

I could understand it if you and roommate always worked the same shift, so you could carpool, or if roommate needed a lift because their car was in the shop (and they'd reciprocate when yours was). If someone refuses to learn to drive, and lives in an area where a car is, for all intents and purposes, a necessity, they should take the consequences (i.e. "can't get there from here").

Then there are people who insist on parking them on the damn sidewalks...which is illegal here. Even more fun, is to see the owners' reactions when said vehicles are loaded up onto a flatbed and removed

Careful about posting that, or you'll make Argabarga jealous. After all, he can only tow ONE illegal parker at a time.