Breaking News from NPR

Yesterday on Morning Edition, NPR ran a story about a growing trend. It seems that with gas prices at all-time highs, some people are thinking about trading in their gas-guzzling SUVs in favor of....wait for it....Scooters!

When a hummer drives up to NoHo Scooters in North Hollywood, Calif., owner Mike Frankovich is no longer surprised. With big jumps in gas prices, sales are skyrocketing at scooter shops around the nation. After all, a small Vespa can get as much as 90 miles per gallon.

Not really to fault NPR, but it seems that everybody and their brother is writing about high gas prices and scooters. Good thing I would never stoop to something as derisive as that.

That out of the way, I have a couple of nits to pick with the story. The first is an assertion that it will take 4 years of gas savings to pay for the scooter. While this may technically be true, it does not account for other savings and benefits that make scooters more attractive. Forget for a moment about the adrenaline rush, fun, culture and environmental benefits. Also forget for a moment the risks of driving something much smaller than the tanks driven by the cell phone distracted hords on the road; instead look at it from a purely financial model.

Say your commute is 30 miles round trip and the price of gas is in the $3 per gallon range. Depending on the car you are driving you can expect a gas only savings of $1,200 - $1,700 per year. Now what if you don't need that SUV any more (perhaps you can get by on one less car), this might net you a savings of $300-$500 per month. What about insurance? Dropping a car from our policy saved around $100/mo while adding a scooter was around $30, chalk up another $70 per month. Even if you are not able to sell the second car, there are still real savings in decreased mileage, wear and tear, etc.

The second nit is related to safety and doesn't have anything to do with NPR, but rather the owner of the North Hollywood scooter dealer featured in the story, who repeated the old saw:

There are two type of motorcycle [and scooter] riders out there. Those who have crashed and those who will crash.

I don't dispute the fact that the more you ride, the more opportunites you have to get into an accident (the same can be said for driving a car, taking the train or crossing the street). Rather it is the fatalistic tone and the suggestion that safety is somehow outside of our control.

Admittedly I haven't been at this scooter stuff for all that long, but in my life I have met both longtime riders who have not had an accident well as some good riders who have had several.

What do you think? Are accidents an inevitable part of riding or can care, training and luck keep the accidents at bay?