New E-scooter store looks to bring movement to Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (KRDO) - A new scooter shop aims to motivate people to go green and bring the electric scooter movement to Colorado Springs.
The new shop, 5150 scooters, will bring a variety of electric scooters to the city while also offering service and repair.
Advocates say more people using electric scooters could help the environment in the long run.
Some of the scooters the shop sells can go up to 45 miles per hour. That's a lot faster than the scooters you see roaming around downtown Colorado Springs, which are capped at 12.5 miles per hour for safety. The scooters 5150 sells can also be used on the road.
Bryan Korum, the owner of the shop says this is an exciting time for the city.
"Ours are all full off-road, full suspension, a lot more comfortable ride, better for a commute, better for daily…just a lot faster and the range is a lot further," said Korum.
Clubs like "Charge Colorado Springs," a group of people with electronic personal vehicles, are happy about the new shop.
For Gabriel Gonzalez, the founder of the club and a commuter himself, scooters are changing how he gets around town.
"We go and adventure. We go out in the mountains sometimes. Every Friday night we go downtown. A lot of us commute on these things. We are just trying to spread the fun of electric mobility," said Gonzalez.
"With gas prices and everything getting to where it is these days, it is a lot better to start commuting in ways that are not going to cost us so much money, and having a shop downtown is helpful," added Gonzalez.
For some people, the electric scooter movement is a way to save the earth by using cleaner energy while commuting. A Colorado Springs go green advocate, Serenity Scalf echoes this sentiment.
"I would definitely try it. I mean the fact that it doesn't pollute the environment around us is a really great thing. I do not know why anyone wouldn't try it," Scalf said.
But there are people in the Springs who wouldn't try it.
"No scooters for this guy. They're dangerous man, Whenever I talk to someone about it, they say they have fallen off a million times, so it just turned me off to scooters," said Colorado Springs resident, Benjamin Short.
Colorado is one of 27 states that has specific laws for electric scooters.
If your scooter can reach up to 28 miles per hour, you are not allowed to ride it on the sidewalk.
If you do take a scooter on the road, you are subject to traffic violations.
