It is inexplicable how e scooters are treated like death machines in comparison to 4000 pound SUVs which get no restrictions.

Scooters have regulated speed, zones that are banned from use, reaction tests, sidewalk restrictions and on and on. You would think there were thousands of e scooter deaths per year.

Yes, especially yourself if you aren't wearing a helmet. More commonly, though, the electric scooters cause injuries and accidents. Starting next year, Norway is requiring insurance for them and rental prices will surely increase in response.

That was introduced during the Oktoberfest here in Munich, as there had been dozens of injuries and hundreds of people so drunk they got their license revoked on the spot in 2019 [1].

Operators didn't want the hassle of the paperwork involved with drunk drivers, crashes and followup costs, so they agreed with the city on implementing a "latency test" or other scare-offs [2]. Some of the operators already had that voluntarily activated during night time in other cities, some had to implement it from scratch, but I think they will more-or-less keep it in place.

Additionally, the potential for severe injury is way higher with a scooter than it is with a bike. Scooters run faster and are way more sensitive to steering input.

[1] https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article201502060/Nach-Oktobe...

[2] https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/oktoberfest-sperrzone-f...

It happens as it causes swerves and crashes. Deer do this too.

With a deer your best course of action is to try and stop but mow it over if necessary.

With a person swerving on a bike or moped, you may not be able to stop in time and most likely swerve.

They're worried you'll kill yourself