It started as a faraway buzzing and as it got closer I could only imagine that a sewing machine was coming down the street.
It turned out to be an electrified skateboard with a kid on top. There were so many wires and duct tape that it looked like a homemade bomb. Behind the kid zooming down the sidewalk on his homemade vehicle was a little brother or a buddy on a regular skateboard, trying desperately to keep up.
That this is not an anomaly. Police have issued a warning this morning against electrifying bicycles and riding them around. Apparently they’ve already taken electric-powered lawn chairs off the streets! People are getting very creative and quite dangerous with their inventions which have included attaching chainsaw motors to 10-speeds. Anyone can get conversion plans on the Internet but it’s illegal to modify your ride unless the kit is MTO approved. One local seller of legal kits says lifelong bike riders sometimes want them later in life to help them get up hills.
While we’re on the subject, someone needs to do a mass education program for riders of low-power electric scooters. Sometimes they ride out in traffic, sometimes they’re on sidewalks and they’re creating some chaos out there. If you have to wear a helmet and get an M license you should be on the road but if you can’t keep up with the flow of traffic, you should stick to the right hand side. It’s comical to see a scooter rider, dressed in full leathers doing a maximun of 30 km/hr holding up traffic. Of course it’s only comical when I’m not actually behind that ride.