Scooters have become one of the favorite options (if not the most) for micromobility in cities. However, as is often the case with novelty, the lack of control and rules can lead to chaos, as has happened in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, also known as Canton.
In recent years there have been a significant boom in the use of electric scooters in the city, a very useful means of transport for cities since they are small, transportable and effective for not very long journeys. However, by law they should go on the road, but their small size makes them vulnerable to other vehicles, so it is more than common to see them circulate on the sidewalk.
Here the problem is that there are hundreds of electric scooter accidents a year, some caused by other vehicles and many others with pedestrians. This is a problem that municipalities around the world have had to face, and in the case of the Guangdong authorities they decided extend a series of limitations in the city.
Among the most prominent are those of lower the speed limit of these scooters so they have to go slower or the stop and get off at each zebra crossing, even if there is no one else. This situation the young people of the city did not like it at allwho have decided to change their scooter for another less conventional vehicle.
As pointed out by Straits Times, ha there has been a boom in the purchase of motorized wheelchairs as an alternative, since these do not have any type of restriction. Obviously there are notable differences between the two options, but this change has been adopted by so many that Electric wheelchair sales have increased 60% in 2023 in Guangzhou city.
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Buying a car is not an option for many of these young people due to the high price of these, in addition to the fact that the city is known for its eternal traffic jams, for which reason the chosen alternative has been electric wheelchairs.
The truth is that these chairs do not reach a lot of speed, and while it has been a fairly popular option among young people, many have also jumped against it, calling them lazy because they go almost at the same speed as a person walking.
At the same time, there are many critics that the shopping boom is going to cause a product shortage and consequently, the price of this will go up making people who really need it have to pay more for it.
