NASHVILLE, TN - Three days after voting against the ban of scooters in downtown Nashville, the metro council took it one step further on Friday, demanding that designated scooter lanes be created on Nashville interstates to protect visiting scooter riders.
The Friday AM emergency session was called in response to an incident on Thursday morning where a man on a scooter was forced to compete with heavy traffic on I-40 East. The man was reportedly an out of town tourist trying to get to the airport.
Metro councilman, Barry Gilman, told reporters, "When I saw that poor man on the news, I knew we had to act fast. We can't have our tourists riding scooters on the interstate without protecting them from the 70 MPH traffic. We need these lanes and we need them now."
A bill is currently being drafted and is expected to pass without issue in the next couple of weeks. Many council members believe that scooter lanes may also be the solution to Nashville's transit issues and are recommending the creation of a second HOV lane for scooter riders with at least one additional passenger.