Scooters are all the rage in Hanover among its senior citizens. I don’t mean motorized wheelchairs for the elderly but mini motorcycles for middle agers. Is it an effort to save on fossil fuels? Is it part of their mid-life crises? Is it about frugality?
As I leave Hanover in the morning to travel to East Berlin I often encounter an older lady coming down Hershey Hill on a red scooter. She wears a full helmet, goggles, & has safety flags flapping in the wind above her head. She reclines with her feet up just like Peter Fonda in Easy Rider. She is usually followed by anywhere from seven to a dozen other vehicles. The look on her face is one of pure joy.
In my opinion, a scooter like hers is fine on residential streets but to head out on the highway one ought to use something with a little more horsepower. Whenever our individual pleasure blinds us to the needs of others we need a wakeup call. Truth may hurt or cost us something but in the end it will save our life.