Should electric scooters be allowed on highways? Obviously not, you might say. With a top speed somewhere in the ballpark of 15 mph, it’s a recipe for carnage to the scooter rider’s brains.
But what about during soul-crushing rush hour traffic? Still obviously not, you’d probably argue. Sending a puny scooter into highway traffic, no matter the time of day, is a bad, dangerous idea.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott agrees with you, which is as good a reason as any to reconsider the premise. And, should you suspend your priors judgement for a few more seconds, I’d like to show you this flawlessly executed five-lane change by a Lime scooter rider across I-35 rush hour traffic in Dallas, as reported by Fox 4:
The first thing one will notice is that the pace of traffic is barely moving any faster than the scooter. If you watch closely, any driver that is going a lot faster than the scooter rider slams on their brakes not long after as they come bumper to bumper with the car in front of them, demonstrating a complete lack of knowledge of how to operate their motor vehicle safely in traffic. In fact, if all the cars and trucks were moving at the average speed of traffic, I doubt at this particular point in time it would be much higher than 15 mph, because it’s rush hour, and rush hour sucks.
And let’s give credit where it’s due to this scooter rider. At no point is he almost cleaned out. Look at that effortless maneuvering, that clean slide from one lane to another. He checks his shoulders and makes his move. Flawless execution.
Yes, our esteemed scooter rider is breaking the law and, far more importantly, the terms of service he agreed to with Lime. Here at Jalopnik, we do not advocate breaking the law or being dangerous on the roadway, but we do advocate for critical thinking about when laws are bad and need to be changed.
And I have to say, before watching this video, I absolutely would have agreed that electric scooters do not belong on highways. Now? I still say scooters don’t belong on highways, but I’m a little less certain of it than I used to be. Maybe this foolhardy rider is onto something.