Letter: Downtown disrupted by scooter anarchy

For almost 30 years, I lived in Indianapolis and happily watched it grow. My family moved away about eight years ago due to a company transfer. Last week, we returned to downtown Indianapolis for a combination of business and personal visits. Much was wonderful. The major exception was the anarchy of the motor scooters. There were bevvies of people riding them carelessly both in the street (going the wrong way in traffic) and riding on the sidewalk with total disregard for pedestrians. The scooters were parked carelessly in odd locations, including in the parking lot of our hotel (which requires a card to enter).

As a driver I was appalled by the total disregard for safety and rules of the road the scooter riders had. As a pedestrian, I was anxious as the scooters whizzed around without regard for standard guidelines for sharing the sidewalk. While the scooters were dangerous enough to streets and sidewalks during the day, they became even more dangerous at night. I witnessed riders circling in the streets and not obeying any traffic signals in the dark.

This is not the Indianapolis I knew. I am surprised that the City-County Council is allowing this scooter anarchy. Why are people not caring about safety of riders, drivers and pedestrians? There are stories from other cities of the dangers of these vehicles. Surely Indianapolis can figure out a way to better manage the two [scooter] companies and their impact on safety.

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Alice Irvan