Mopeds are dangerous to ALL

[ggunn]

Can you cite statistics to support this opinion? I have heard of no tourists that died on a scooter in the last year. The number of fatalities while diving is not supporting your argument. Yes, there are risks involved but making blanket statements about the relative danger of an activity that you don't choose to participate in is just like telling me I am crazy to skydive or ride my bike on the hill country roads near my home or in NYC for that matter. The likelihood that the scooter I ride in Coz is what is going to get me is not as high as the risk of driving to work. I see countless acts of lunacy committed on scooters but that doesn't mean that I have to be a lunatic when I'm on my way to the Mega.

Horses for courses.

Some time ago I was told by a health professional on Cozumel that scooter accidents are by far the #1 reason for emergency room visits by tourists. My dentist was killed on a rental motorbike in Mexico. My brother went to the ER for a scooter accident on Cozumel. The skipper of a fishing boat we often fish from in Cozumel spent a month in the hospital after being hit by a car on his scooter. The son of a friend of ours who was a waiter on the island was killed on a scooter. Anecdotal evidence? Sure, but there's enough of it to convince me not to rent a scooter and for me to discourage others from doing so.

 

[RayfromTX]

My neighbor thinks I'm crazy to scuba dive. He can tell me all the stories he's heard of people being attacked by sharks. In every accident of every kind there are details that matter. Blanket statements about the safety of someone else's choices is akin to telling people not to drink because it killed my father or not to smoke because it killed my friend or to lose 60 pounds because obesity actually does kill a huge number of people.

Every few months there is a thread on this scuba diving website warning of the dangers of mopeds. Ok, I have been warned.

Now let's go diving. After that I'll scooter back to the apartment and later over to the money bar and later to Diaz for some tacos and hit the Mega for some groceries on the way home and maybe a stop for ice cream and some ear drops on the way. How many taxi rides will that be? I was at the Mega and the line of people waiting with whithering groceries for a taxi to show up was sad.

 

[Streydog]

Dave, would you propose more cars on the road as the alternative to the mopeds? If you replace the mopeds with more cars and taxis you will definitely have something else to worry about. The only dangerous encounters I've personally encountered were while walking in Coz. I will agree that many people in Cozumel have no business on a scooter and a large number of those are tourists. It seems they view them as slow and harmless when they are not that at all. What they are is easy peasy to park. Shall we start building parking garages? Look at the scooters parked along the road and tell me where they would all be parked if they were cars.

Taking a taxi vs. renting a scooter would not increase the amount of cars on the road. I would also think that many tourist that rent a scooter are not getting them to go from point a to point b, they are cruising around on them.

 

[Christi]

Really good thread Dave.

As some here know, I am recovering from some extensive shoulder surgery (still have stitches to give you an idea of how fresh it still is).

Sunday night, my boyfriend took me out to get some fresh air and to pick up a few things from Mega. This was my first outing since coming home after my 6 day hospital stay.

On our way home, one block from my home, we were at a dead stop with signal on and were rear ended full force by a drunk guy on a scooter at about 9:00pm He was going about 40mph weaving in and out of traffic. Turns out he had been at money bar all afternoon. Fortunately we were not hurt and the guy in the moped was injured but not so bad that he didn't try to run and flee the scene. We had enough witnesses and were able to chase him down and hold him until the police came. Had he escaped, my totally innocent boyfriend would have spent 48 hours minimum in jail.

As it turned out my insurance agent and adjuster were huge helps but that didn't prevent us from spending 3 hours that night in the police station and then another 6 hours the following day not pleasant in my condition ( or in any condition).

My car should be fixed next week. I am a Mexican citizen and I had the assistance and guarantee of my own insurance even if the guy had not come up with the money to pay for my car.

This is also why I always encourage people renting cars to get the full local insurance so you are protected. BTW I only trust Fiesta and Isis car rental to be there for their renters in case of emergency.

 

[ggunn]

My neighbor thinks I'm crazy to scuba dive. He can tell me all the stories he's heard of people being attacked by sharks. In every accident of every kind there are details that matter. Blanket statements about the safety of someone else's choices is akin to telling people not to drink because it killed my father or not to smoke because it killed my friend or to lose 60 pounds because obesity actually does kill a huge number of people.

Every few months there is a thread on this scuba diving website warning of the dangers of mopeds. Ok, I have been warned.

Now let's go diving. After that I'll scooter back to the apartment and later over to the money bar and later to Diaz for some tacos and hit the Mega for some groceries on the way home and maybe a stop for ice cream and some ear drops on the way. How many taxi rides will that be? I was at the Mega and the line of people waiting with whithering groceries for a taxi to show up was sad.

You know, if you don't want to talk about something, you don't have to. You don't even have to read this thread. I'm just sayin'...

 

[RayfromTX]

That's true Gordon. Is it my opinion or my tone that is leading you to invite me to leave?

Christi gave good advice about how to deal with the issue which is not going away. Posts that are informative about a phenomenon that is part of the fabric of Cozumel and that offer insights into the laws and potential dangers surrounding our interaction with it are helpful. Making blanket statements about the dangers of scooters is what bothers me. Christi told of someone hitting her recently. As I said earlier, the details matter. He was drunk and driving recklessly.

Nobody comes on this board and says you shouldn't drink while on Cozumel because it will lead you to using poor judgement and could get you killed or thrown in jail. That blanket statement wouldn't be tolerated because that would be a general statement of judgement about an activity that is enjoyed by many here and people would rightly speak up and say that it can be done safely.

A few months ago a man loaded his scooter up with far too much weight in a box that put the weight too far back making it unstable. He then failed to secure his helmet and drove too fast. He died in the resulting accident which spurred yet another thread about the dangers of scooters. Was it not his judgement that caused the accident?

If that same poor judgement is used while drinking or diving it will lead to bad results. I rode in a car with a woman from New York that lives in Coz over the winter. It was frightening how little attention she paid to what was going on around her. She is a danger to pedestrians, cyclists and people on scooters. She did watch for cars. Renting cars when you are used to driving where there are no scooters is potentially dangerous. It is dangerous to the people that actually live in Cozumel and use scooters to conduct their day to day lives.

Are people quick to condemn scooters because they are from a place where scooters are rare and not part of the culture? I'm just sayin'

Taking a taxi vs. renting a scooter would not increase the amount of cars on the road. I would also think that many tourist that rent a scooter are not getting them to go from point a to point b, they are cruising around on them.

More demand for taxis will mean more cars on the road. Do you think if all those scooters disappeared the existing cars on the road would handle the traffic demands? Next time you are in Cozumel just imagine that the people on scooters are suddenly in private cars or taxis and figure out what that would actually look like.

 

[blue steal]

There is a web site that shows all the accidents, car and scooters, in Cozumel. I was absolutely amazed at the number.
I found it after witnessing several accidents over the course of our stay last November.

 

[tridacna]

There is a web site that shows all the accidents, car and scooters, in Cozumel. I was absolutely amazed at the number.
I found it after witnessing several accidents over the course of our stay last November.

Website URL?

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Maybe instead of banning motos the laws concerning liability in an accident could be changed. (Ha! Fat chance) Christi's story is a good example. Get rear-ended by a moto and YOU go to jail? That's nuts. Same for motos passing on all sides and otherwise ignoring traffic laws. If you try to pass me on the shoulder in the states and I run you over, that's your fault. A severe crackdown on the current moto free-for-all would change things a lot. Right now they have and know they have the law on their side no matter what they do. But of course, that's not going to happen.

 

[Schwob]

I don't think anybody really meant mopeds themselves are the issue. Akin to bullets likely being less of an issue than those who choose where to aim them ... or food being less of an issue than those who struggle to use that right, just to name something I can identify with...
I think the OP meant to describe the whole situation and how the laws and or the enforcement there off is potentially making it worse and riskier and thus advises to think hard about it. I have been there only one day (last year). Maybe traffic is way worse than what it used to be. It is nowhere near what it is in some Asian metropoles. And hopefully never will be. The issues around the law enforcement are good to know about.
I hope the good people of Cozumel can employ the right local government people that will help develop this wonderful place to its full potential w/o destroying it in the process. It's hard to do. So many fast growing places just devour all the good things there once where. Growth in tourism in some areas is not all that different from growth in population in terms of problems to address that come with it. The former has maybe the advantage that it brings with it the money that could be used to improve the situation. Still hard to do in the real world, combating short term gain thinking, corruption and all the stuff that comes with governing...
Coz got something good ... and hopefully will be smart about what it makes of it...