Commuters in Texas were shocked by a man riding an electric scooter down a busy interstate.
Dash camera video from a driver in Dallas shows an unidentified man whizzing through traffic on Interstate-35, a six-lane road with a 70 miles per hour speed limit, on a Lime electric scooter. With a maximum speed of 17 miles per hour, the city rental isn’t meant for such a busy street.
Josh Weatherl, the driver who witnessed the scootering, appeared baffled but delighted in commentary over the footage.
"What? Bro... are you on a bird scooter on the highway? BRO! What are you doing? BRO! What are you doing? BRO! What are you doing? Oh my gosh,” said Mr Weatherl as the scooter zipped through multiple lanes.
Mr Weatherl told FOX4 that the video was recorded just before 9AM on a Monday morning, a prime time for morning commuters. He noted that the scooter rider was careful to look behind each time he changed a lane.
While scooters are not permitted on streets where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or lower, Dallas's dockless vehicle ordinance does not prohibit scooters from being operated on the interstate, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The incident, however, has become a political jump-off point. A measure introduced by Texas state senator Royce West, a Democrat, that would have prohibit scooter riding on Texas highways recent failed to get a vote on the House floor. But the dash cam footage may have pushed the issue into viable territory, with support for a similar bill coming in from Greg Abbott, the state’s Republican governor.
“That does it,” Mr Abbott wrote in a tweet sharing the footage of the unlikely commute. “I believe in less government. But allowing these scooters on crowded interstate highways is bad government and endangers public safety. Action is needed.”
For their part, Lime representatives say that scooters are not permitted on highways or interstates, and encourage all users to scooter responsibly.
