Scooters - should you use one?

[MMM]

Common advice is it's dangerous it is to ride a scooter in Cozumel. Lots of people dismiss that. I just saw a video posted on a local Cozumel Spanish-speaking discussion group of a scooter-car accident here today in Cozumel a couple of blocks from my street. The scooter was proceeding at a pretty good clip (but not much past speed limit, if even) on the block behind our house and a few side streets over. A minivan blew a stop sign and drove right into him sending the scooter flying. Then kept on going. I'm still trying to process this. It's unconscionable. Sociopathic. Not even checking to see if the driver is alive.

I know people tell me that they are good and careful scooter/motorcycle riders. But even if you do everything right, and obey all the rules, and some knucklehead tries to kill you anyways, AND LEAVES YOU BLEEDING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, what then? This person must have many broken bones and internal injuries, if they even live. They face a long, long rehab and probably years of chronic pain from the accident.

I might add that it is not unusual for people to drive here with no driver training, no driver's license and no understanding of the rules of the road. And no insurance. Probably why this driver just kept on going after clearly clobbering some motorcyclist.

You have a better chance of surviving an accident if you are in a car...not on a scooter. Last year a guy on a scooter died in front of our house. Please, please, please...do not ride scooters in Cozumel. It is crazy dangerous.

 

[Tribal]

You dit bait me i did expect that the topic would be about the good kind of scooters, Suex. Not the Boring ones

 

[Steelyeyes]

I'd rather be in the water with a tiger shark than ride a scooter on any road in Mexico. Several of the VRBO places we rented had pages in their welcome books specifically warning about the dangers of scooters and recommended not renting one. Everyone's risk profile is different though.

 

[scubadada]

Funny, I thought this might be about DPVs

 

[northernone]

Funny, I thought this might be about DPVs

Best piece of dive gear I own for currents (or anywhere open really)!

The two wheeled kind, I'm nervous about per my norm with two wheeled transportation in traffic. Cozumel is laid back compared to most cities though.

 

[kmarks]

I got run over riding a bicycle to work two and a half years ago and the drivers in my city aren't nearly as crazy as they are in Cozumel. I thought my taxi driver was going to rear end everyone in front of him as they went over speed bumps this afternoon coming back from the marina. You would never get me on a bike or a scooter in Cozumel.

Also, @MMM, is your house on or near Calle 3 Sur? I'm at Suites Bahia this week and firefighters were cleaning up what looked like quite a mess in from of the Lobster Shack. I'm wondering if this is related.

 

[ggunn]

My dentist died on a rented two wheeler in Mexico. A friend of mine who lives in Cozumel had his son killed on a "moped". My brother was injured in a scooter accident. The skipper of the boat we fished on for several years was badly hurt on a scooter. That's two deaths and two injuries just in the people I know. Them's not great odds.

 

[MMM]

No, this was near Calle 3 sur but more up around Ave. 20.

Also, @MMM, is your house on or near Calle 3 Sur? I'm at Suites Bahia this week and firefighters were cleaning up what looked like quite a mess in from of the Lobster Shack. I'm wondering if this is related.

 

[Rob9876]

This is really one of those personal assessment of risk questions. Somewhat analogous to scuba, scootering/motorcycling is something most people don't need to do, but many people enjoy -- and those people who don't do it sometimes act like you are crazy for doing it.

I've ridden a bicycle around the island, and I've also ridden a motorcycle there. As someone who has done a good bit of both in other places, I don't view Cozumel as being much more risky than most other places I've ridden. However, I would try to avoid riding in town at peak times, especially right after a bunch of cruise ship passengers arrive and start leaving in rentals, taxis, jeeps, dune buggies, etc.

I would definitely advise against people who aren't already motorcyclists renting a scooter for the 1st time in Cozumel. I think there are a fair number of tourists who rent a scooters for the 1st time there, and I believe this accounts for a good portion of the accidents (though certainly not all).

There is risk in almost everything we do, and people get killed walking on sidewalks, riding in cars, bicycling, snorkeling, scuba diving, etc., etc. A responsible motorcyclist does everything that he can to mitigate risk, rides cautiously like he is invisible to other traffic, but doesn't let risk deter him from doing what he loves.

 

[DjDiverDan]

My own personal experience renting a scooter on Cozumel - January, 2000: 7 broken ribs, 4 in more than one place; one punctured lung, one punctured spleen; one incredibly painful night in a Cozumel Clinic; one air ambulance trip to Dallas, with ambulance transport to Baylor Hospital; 8 days in the hospital, the first 4 mostly a morphine-induced fog; a lifetime of back pain, an end to any more golf (I still can’t make more than half a backswing without pain), and several weeks spent picking small bits of gravel from the road rash on my arms, legs and back. Oh, and the $700 charge on my credit card from the Scooter rental agency for damages to their vehicle. Your experience might be better. But it also could be worse. Make up your own mind.