AUSTIN, Texas -- Scooter safety is an everyday issue in Austin and is becoming more important as SXSW will bring an influx of people to downtown.
- Austin Energy hold scooter safety seminar
- APD and EMS participated
- Focused on electric scooters and bikes
Many people are expected to use scooters to get around. On Wednesday morning Austin Energy, as part of their program to promote the use of electric vehicles, hosted a scooter safety seminar along with APD, EMS and Jump Scooters/Bikes. They went over their main guidelines to help protect those riding scooters.
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“When people are driving them safely, in the bike lane or the sidewalk and yielding to pedestrians, it’s no problem at all. But we see a lot of people in a hurry and driving recklessly,” said Detective Patrick Oborski, of the Austin Police Department.
Scooter safety tips:
• Wear a helmet
• Wear flat bottom shoes for stability
• Use a bike lane if there is one.
If there is not a bike lane, riding in the street or on the sidewalk is allowed. They also say riders need to follow the rules like a normal bike would, such as stopping for stop signs and stop lights and going the right way down the street. The city has taken some precautions for SXSW by banning scooters from pedestrian zones along Sixth Street, Red River Street and Rainey street which will be barricaded off for the festival.
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