Driving a Vespa
Perhaps because I am driving a Vespa these days, but I don’t think so. Every day there are more Vespas or Scooter type vehicles on the street. On my block alone, I have noticed that first there was one, now there are 8. Hmmm. I hope the city finds a way to promote this type of driving because us against the cabs, buses, cars and bicycles are a little overwhelming.
I knew that the Vespa world was definitely growing as of yesterday. I pulled up to a stop sign and a Vespa pulls right up next to me. I look to my left and I see our friends on the Vespa. He’s driving, she’s in the back. I just started to laugh. We’re getting together this week so I asked, "hey, what time are we meeting tomorrow night?" Response…"You pick, just send us an email." and off we rode. You gotta love it.
Comments (Archived):
Hey, GG, didn’t know you were a fellow scooterist! I’m one of the founders of the New York Scooter Club.
You’re absolutely right about this phenomenon! We’re seeing an abolute explosion in new Vespa and other scooter riders. You should swing by the Brass Monkey one Wednesday evening at 7 and check out our weekly meet-up!
P.S. As for the promotion of scooters, Vespa is finally mounting a lobbying effort (starting with a “Vespetition,”) at Vespanomics.com
P.S. You can see our photos at Flickr tag “newyorkscooterclub“
Partially inspired by GG, I also took the NYC scooter plunge, and got a cheap Chinese-made, freeway-legal scooter. There is nothing like the feeling and freedom, especially during white-knuckle rides across the east river bridges.