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Comment by mynameishere | Hacker News Reader

awesome

Since when did obvious nuisances become "awesome".

I hope that comments like this will start to be deleted

I hope that comments referring to obvious nuisances as "awesome" will be deleted.

Here's the problem, as no one has quite caught on yet: The public transport areas consist of two main areas: Those for street-legal vehicles (cars, motorbikes, bicycles) and pedestrians (walkers, wheelchairs, baby carriages). There is simply no place for semi-powered vehicles on sidewalks. A moped or segway or motorized skateboard is an absolute nuisance on the sidewalk, and is a danger to everybody on the roadway. It doesn't fit outside of a mall-cop context.

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At the risk of feeding the trolls, I'll bite.

Who is this "obvious" to? Clearly not you, since you think it's a horrible idea. Electronic skateboards have been around for quite awhile, and until now, they've been very heavy and mostly impractical. Yet, they are a viable product in the market and popular enough that people are making money selling them. One of the reasons this product is a leap forward is because it's lightweight enough to be used as a normal skateboard without electric power.

Simply stating that there is no place for this product on the sidewalk doesn't make it true, and I personally disagree with you. Stating that it is a "danger to everybody on the roadway" is absolutely absurd and simply untrue. Any vehicle that is under the control of a competent and observent operator will not be a danger to others in the least.

Here's the real problem: The contrarian, negative, hostile commenters on HN are the vocal majority in a lot of cases. Personally, I'm really, really tired of this even being accepted by the community.

Simply stating that there is no place for this product on the sidewalk

I'm not "simply stating" anything. Most municipalities have ordinances against powered vehicles on sidewalks. It's simple. It's straightforward. It's sensible. It's correct. I'm talking law and you're talking this guy's a troll.

No. Please, please, please learn basic internet lingo before you abuse it. Please?

I may be missing something here but, where did anyone mention riding a longboard on the sidewalk? I live in a big city and when a street doesn't have a dedicated cycle lane (shared by not only bicycles but, rollerblades and longboards), these people just ride between parked and moving cars... I don't see how a longboard is more of a nuisance than a bicycle really? I've seen people on bicycles going at about 5mph, slowing down all the traffic, and I've seen people riding longboards at ~15-20mph (and vice versa). Sure riding a longboard on the sidewalk is not only a nuisance, it's probably a bad idea for anyone involved... but I'm not sure why they couldn't be allowed to ride where bicycles are allowed to ride?

Skateboarders are a huge nuisance on sidewalks. They simply move much faster than everyone else using the sidewalk, and disparity in speed is a huge source of danger in transportation. I can only imagine it'll be worse with a faster, motorized skateboard.

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