Scooters And One Wheels

My Scooter and I Problem the Legislation | Arts And Leisure

Despite my lifelong bluster about being a hard-nosed realist with an analytical mind, in truth, I’m a hopeless romantic. Recently, I fell in love with an image in an ad. I was on the internet, reading about how electric vehicles could ease global warming, when a sidebar caught my eye. It was a picture of a man on a red motor scooter, riding down a quiet country road, bordered by pasture and canopied by trees. He was smiling beatifically as only a male model can, and the caption said, “There is only silence when you ride one of our electric scooters.” Well, I live on a quiet country road, and I began to imagine how pleasant it would be to ride silently down my road while doing my part to ease global warming. I could even ride quietly the two miles into town to pick up a loaf of bread for my wife. I decided our family had an urgent need for a silent, electric motor scooter – a red one. I got out my credit card.

The scooter arrived in a tightly-packed metal crate. I was eager to take it out for a ride, but the weather put a damper on my plans. Several days later, the sun came out and the road dried off. I was surprised – and a little frightened – by the torque the electric motor provided. The next step was to get my scooter registered and licensed so I could ride it legally.

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Chuck Avery is a retired teacher who grew up in Connersville’s Bucktown neighborhood.

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