By Guest Columnist JUDY DIGGS KEENAN

First let me make my position clear—I love the BeltLine.  Almost daily, I am on it running, walking to the grocery, or taking my dogs to Piedmont Park.  The creation of real walkability for in-town Atlanta has truly revitalized this city.  Nevertheless, some basic issues need to be addressed.  For starters, let’s talk e-vehicles — from scooters to bikes to those strange one-wheeled things that look like they came out of a “Back to the Future” movie.  It reminds me of that South Park Episode “The Scoots,” (Season 22, episode 5).  One day scooters appear and suddenly they have taken over the BeltLine.  Trying to sidle onto the path on a sunny weekend day is more dangerous than merging onto the connector on a Friday afternoon.

Judy Diggs Keenan has worked as an editor and writer. Currently, she has a wholesale needlepoint design business, Canvas & Thread and is working toward a certificate in creative writing.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, injuries from these micro-mobility vehicles jumped 70 percent during the four years from 2017 to 2021 across the country.   What’s more, many studies worldwide have shown that, e-scooters in particular, are substantially more dangerous than bicycles or motorcycles.

The City of Atlanta adopted an ordinance in January 2019 regulating their use, including such basic safety measures as no cell phone use while riding, one person per scooter, and always yielding to pedestrians.  Furthermore, children 16 and younger are required to wear a helmet.  These laws are routinely ignored on the BeltLine.

My personal pet peeve is when people line up their scooters or simply drop them in the running lane.  According to the city ordinance, scooters should always be left upright and not block the right of way.  Furthermore, any non-functioning scooter should be immediately removed from service or the rental company can be fined up to $1,000 per…