Scooter riders should follow traffic laws

I had two bad encounters with a young man on a VEO scooter downtown recently. The first was when he carefully avoided the crossing sensor near the tracks on First Avenue and then still rushed into traffic, assuming they would stop for him.

Right after, as I started to enter the intersection of Second Avenue and Third Street, he ran a stop sign and forced me to stop very quickly. When I honked at him, he pointed down at the bike lane as if that granted him the right to ignore traffic laws. My thought is that anyone that cannot follow basic traffic laws, like stopping at stop signs, is not mature enough to be allowed to operate vehicles on the street.

One of the things riders agree to when they rent is "riders must follow local traffic laws," which this person obviously was not. It also surprises me to see the scooters left in empty lots and I have even found one in my driveway. My thought is the VEO program is probably good for the city, as I'm sure it raises money. I feel people need to be aware of the downside as many renters have no interest in using these vehicles as intended.

Leon Schindler

Cedar Rapids