BROOKLYN WEATHER

Beware of the Dangers Scooters May Pose

Beware of the Dangers Scooters May Pose

By Yehudit Garmaise

Sunny days are here again, school is almost out, and kids are ready for fun, but parents should take care to ensure that children who ride scooters are staying as safe and protected as possible.

Rosh Yeshiva Yaakov Bender, shlita, gave out a stern warning against scooters last June after a boy in Far Rockaway was hit by a car while riding on his dangerous toy.

“If it were up to me, I would never allow a child to own a scooter. They often cost a fortune and some of them can go up to 40 MPH,” Rabbi Bender wrote after reassuring the parents that the child who hit was protected by Hashem’s greatest chesed. “I think we are playing with human lives.”

For families who do allow their children to ride scooters on the city’s streets, Lime, the electric scooter rental company, posted helpful safety tips that could provide extra measures of protection.

To stay safe, scooter-riders should:

1. Wear helmets: Protecting kids’ heads is one of the most proactive things they can do to stay safe while zooming around the neighborhood whether it's with a scooter or bicycle. In fact, Boro Park Hatzolah Administrator Motty Fleisher said that helmets make all the difference in preventing kids’ serious injuries.

2. Ditch the earbuds: While listening to leibidig music and zipping down 13th Avenue sounds fun, earbuds prevent scooter riders from hearing horns honking, the voices of pedestrians or other riders, nor the wail of police cars and ambulances.

3. Decelerate downhill: Scooter riders, which get quickly accelerate to 40mph, should be ready to liberally apply their brakes as soon as they pick up speed.

4. Know and obey traffic laws: Stopping at stop signs and traffic lights, yielding to pedestrians, and abiding by street-specific speed limits are not optional.



Sanitation Truck Hits Subway Pole, Driver Extracted by Emergency Crews
  • Jun 15 2022
  • |
  • 8:13 AM

Photo Gallery: Chumesh Seudah in the Satmar Cheider in Boro Park
  • Jun 14 2022
  • |
  • 3:49 PM

Be in the know

receive BoroPark24’s news & updates on whatsapp

 Start Now