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I’m guessing the reason the jerks are driving on the sidewalk is because the roads are unsafe for them. Maybe cars (the vehicles making the roads unsafe) are the real problem?

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Yes, and.

Mixing operation of motorized vehicles in the same space with vulnerable humans and their pets is the real problem. Operating them on the sidewalk is an instance of and amplification of the same problem.

I’m wildly sympathetic to the anti-car position, but I’m not at all sympathetic to excusing motor scooters on sidewalks in the interest of advancing that position.

In Japan, many cities don’t even have sidewalks—pedestrians share the same space with cars/bikes/motorcycles. Because everybody understands that it's a shared space, people drive cautiously, resulting in safer streets. Sometimes separation is not the answer!

Well, that’s great for people in those cities in Japan, but it doesn’t do me much good in my own city where car and scooter drivers are not remotely so cautious.

Works the same in NYC. Cars are more careful because otherwise they’d hit cyclists, pedestrians, scooters and skateboarders.

Can’t say the same about other US cities.

I hope the US would rebuild streets for people and bikes, not autonomous vehicles.

The majority of Americans are too overweight and unhealthy to travel any meaningful distance by bike.

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