For tourists that want to explore the long stretch of sandy beaches around Miami Beach and see both the center and even the Florida Keys in an easy way, renting a scooter is much more fun than a car. No hassle as to parking and you feel like you are out in the open enjoying the sun and sand.
However, given that this year alone police had to issue more than 800 tickets to those scooter drivers, city officials are starting to have second thoughts about renting them out.
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Groups of youngsters driving around on scooters, something which most of them have never done before, combined with some alcohol and nightlife, seem to create a lot of worry for car insurance companies in the Miami-Dade area. So much so that some of them have contacted the city council to take a long hard look at this mode of tourism transport in the city. A possible ban on scooter rental during holiday weekends is the result.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I love the scooter culture on Miami Beach bit the drunken partying tourists definitely hurt the image. <a href="https://t.co/xkoiYMY7B8">https://t.co/xkoiYMY7B8</a></p>— Aaron Buckner (@aaronbuckner) <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronbuckner/status/993247863739109376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The various owners of scooter rental shops on Miami Beach are staggering at the thought of a possible ban. Mr. Antonio La Rosa who manages the Scooter Super Shop on 900 Washington Ave. He said: "It would be a big problem and we would have to think of other ways to keep the business alive."
Of course, Mr. La Rosa acknowledges that most business is done during spring breaks or vacation weekends. For example, during a three-day period in March, he made as much as the business usually earns in two months. But he insists that it shouldn’t because of some ‘rotten apples’ on the road that everyone gets punished.
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"In our contracts, it makes the customer more aware of how to behave. They won't just be in trouble with us, but also with the cops and the city."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Among the ideas Miami Beach discussed for how to crack down on spring break: arresting ppl for marijuana possession, banning scooter rentals and limiting alcohol sales. And oh yeah, blasting classical music on the beach. <a href="https://t.co/1Y7pCBV98H">https://t.co/1Y7pCBV98H</a></p>— Joey Flechas (@joeflech) <a href="https://twitter.com/joeflech/status/976789465489395712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2018</a></blockquote>
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During spring break in March of this year, Miami police wrote more than 450 tickets to scooter drivers. It is quite unclear how many of those tickets were issued to local residents, but the police chief, Mr. Dan Oates, admitted at a recent City Commission meeting that there is a problem, stating: "During the height of spring break we couldn't keep up with the volume of violations."
Source:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article209929149.html
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Personally speaking, I wouldn't support a blanket ban. Educate the renters, penalize them but it's important to consider the tourism revenue and the local businesses boost because of them. Now, certainly the traffic issue is not going to be solved unless they comply. So segregate them from the other tourists.