Originally, scooters were made of wood and later made of metal, at the frame level. The base where the feet are placed was made of wood.
Photo credit: Léo Van Dievot
In 1917, there was the first scooter with an internal combustion engine, it was an American invention.
From 1919 to 1922, a German manufacturer produced motorized scooters.
The first scooters appeared during the crisis of the 1930s.
Initially, scooters were sold as children's toys as early as 1950.
In the 1950s, there was a small revolution because the scooter was equipped with a central pedal that you just had to operate in order to move forward for a long time without having to put your foot on the ground.
This system avoided "skating" by pushing on the ground using the foot.
A development in the field of gardening and more particularly brush cutters equipped with light engines (below 2 kg), will make it possible to adapt the motorization to scooters.
Nowadays, scooters are classified in the EDP category (personal transportation device).
Since the end of the 1990s, traveling on scooters is no longer the adage of young people.
In Anglo-Saxon countries, in particular, you can see businessmen in suits and ties using scooters.
In the city, this mode of travel is very practical and increasingly used.
In 2010, it became a mode of urban transport in its own right.
In 2016, and in France alone, more than 1.7 million scooters were sold.
In 2017, most large cities will be equipped with self-service scooters, but unlike self-service bicycles, the latter do not have a storage location and users leave their machine wherever they want.
The problem of storage location and the incivility of many people has generated a lot of problems.
It would have been simpler, in my humble opinion, to have set up “Vélib” style parking places, in order to avoid a large number of inconveniences.
This is why since July 29, 2019, it is strictly prohibited to park on sidewalks.
Over the past few years, there has been a certain evolution in terms of design, because nowadays there are several types of scooters on the market.
When we think of the word scooter, most people think of self-service scooters or those made of aluminum and foldable, but there are many models.
I will come back in a future article on the types of scooters that can be found on the market and the different practices that result from them.
Legislation at European level is not common to all countries.
For example, in Germany, you must have civil car insurance in order to be able to use this type of "vehicle".
A few small details regarding the legislation:
If your scooter travels at a speed not exceeding 6 km/h, you can ride on the sidewalks and in this case, you are considered a pedestrian.
It is obvious that this speed can only be achieved by a scooter that is not equipped with an electric motor.
The use of a helmet is not obligatory.
For my part, I assume that there are ways to optimize our security these days and that we should not deprive ourselves of them.
So I provide helmets to all my customers
In a future article, I will discuss the different types of scooters that can be found on the market.
Thank you dear readers for reading me to the end.
Do not hesitate to comment on this article and even suggest possible topics that I could address in a future article.
Heymatrotment
