Posted on 05/26/2007 2:02:20 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
LAS VEGAS -- There's lazy, and then there's Las Vegas lazy.
In increasing numbers, Las Vegas tourists exhausted by the four miles of gluttony laid out before them are getting around on electric "mobility scooters."
Don't think trendy Vespa motorbikes. Think updated wheelchairs.
Forking over about $40 a day and their pride, apparently healthy tourists are cruising around Las Vegas casinos in transportation intended for the infirm.
You don't have to take a step. You don't even have to put your drink down.
"It was all the walking," 27-year-old Simon Lezama said on his red Merits Pioneer 3. Lezama, a trim and fit-looking restaurant manager from Odessa, rented it on day three of his five-day vacation.
"And now I can drink and drive, be responsible and save my feet."
The Las Vegas Strip is long past its easily walkable days. Casinos are nearly the size of two football fields -- and that doesn't count the hotel rooms, shopping malls, spas, convention centers, bars and restaurants.
For tourists who plan to stroll from one big casino to another, there are also crowds, construction sites and long stretches of sun-baked sidewalks between.
A tourist could accidentally get some exercise.
Rental business
"We're seeing more and more young people just for the fact that the Strip has gotten so big, the hotels are so large," said Marcel Maritz, owner of Active Mobility, a scooter rental company whose inventory also includes wheelchairs, crutches and walkers.
Most of those using the scooters are obese, elderly or disabled.
But many are young and seemingly fit.
The number of able-bodied renters has grown in the past few years to represent as much as 5 percent of Maritz's business, he said. The company, which contracts with some casinos, has a fleet of about 300 scooters.
"It makes it a lot easier for people to see everything," he said.
At full throttle the scooters reach about 5 mph, though crowded sidewalks allow little opportunity for such speeds.
They can go anywhere wheelchairs can -- elevators, bars, craps tables -- but are banned from streets. They come with a quick operating lesson, an instruction booklet, a horn and a basket.
"At first, I figured it was for handicapped people, but then I saw everybody was getting them. I figured I might as well, too," Lezama said.
Critics
Some find the notion of using a device intended for disabled people unethical.
"It's the same principle as parking in a handicap spot," said Mike Petillo, 64, a disabled tax accountant who recently visited from New York City.
Several hotel desk workers -- who handle most of the rental requests from tourists -- said they try to discourage people who do not appear to need the scooters from renting.
Michelle Bailey, a slender, apparently healthy 22-year-old from Texas, used a scooter to get around a recent pool tournament at the Riviera hotel-casino.
"Four-inch heels," she explained with a laugh, pointing to her lipstick-red pumps.
Simon Lezama, 27, of Odessa drives his electric mobility scooter at the Riviera hotel-casino in Las Vegas.
“However, I believe the whole purpose of this article was to point out that perfectly healthy people are renting these things simply because they don’t feel like walking”
I don’t understand. You would condemn somebody because they don’t feel like walking? Seeing all the cars on the road must make you crazy. After all, they are being driven by people who “don’t feel like walking”.
Nowhere in the article were handicapped people denied access to a wheelchair, just that mobility vehicles were being provided to people who can afford them. I fail to see what your beef is.
Ok. I’m not arguing that. I guess I don’t understand your point.
I may have misunderstood the entire debate. Are these people able to walk? They’re neither obese nor disabled?
I’m not offended. I’m not even very fat anymore. I’m an advocate for fat people though:’)
They can walk. I can understand getting tired though. If you don’t walk a lot in your job , casino hopping can wear you out. Walking is good for you but a lift is always a relief. People should be able to do what they want if they aren’t hurting anyone else IMO. Some guy said he got 6 miles on his. I would want a regular scooter but most could go to town on something like that.
YOU DON’T SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT? Those things are a major nuisance. They get in the way of normal pedestrian traffic. They take up too much hallway space. They are intended for people who are not physically capable of being on their feet for extended periods. Any able bodied person riding those things indoors needs a good thrashing.
Now, I suppose I could understand someone wanting to use one instead of a car for short trips...think of it as a one man golf cart. But it seems to me that there are better options available for that purpose...like a golf cart for instance...or a bike. But I wouldn’t chastise anyone for choosing a disabled person’s scooter for that purpose I suppose. It gets the job done.
That’s what I understood. Look at the pic in the article. Read the article.
Vegas is an entertainment center (among other things). There is just something distasteful about people too lazy to walk for their entertainment.
I read the article more closely. You are right.
Nice way to phrase that. Nice spin. NOW, nobody is using a disabled persons scooter, they are using a scooter.
AS for it taking up space, my scooter has a 30” wheel span, 30” from wheel to wheel. I have seen butts bigger than that.
“You should get 20 - 25 miles out of a charge”
The specs say 18 miles, but that depends on condition of battery (new or used), weight of the passenger, temp, hills, and speed.
Absolutely pathetic. No pride whatsoever.
I’ve noticed that the “disability” that most of the people who I see using these things is being a fatass.
First of all, thank you for your service...especially in Greenland! Interesting bio on your profile. There is nothing wrong with an older person using one of the scooters, but a healthy 27 year old?!
And maybe they are simple run of the mill lazy, fatasses. They are in plenty of company these days.
Understand your point. Thing that you had wrong was the Crappy Old Handy-capped Scooters statement... You gotta remember that these things are high tech. At least the price is...Hi!
What you see on TV putt puttin around is not all there is to be had.
Mine will out run a runner .. I was amazed at how fast it is.. List price 8,000 ..Twin motors, twin batteries, 25 miles to a charge. Way Way above crappy. It’s a chair BTW and comfortable.
Will leave Segway in the dust ...
I knew they were pricey. Everything related to medicine or the disabled is. It’s a racket. I used to know a guy that got very rich installing automatic handicap doors. The prices are way out of line for all that stuff. The reason why is insurance covers it, or part of it. Anything covered or partially covered by insurance gets a price hike.
Outrun a human, eh? That I did not know.
Five pounds of Twenty's?, or Hundred's? /grin
I was in Vegas 2 weeks ago. I go every year. Never saw so many of those Scooter things there in my life.
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