Scooter store

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High gas prices at the pump have become a huge problem for Montanans, but some have found a small solution by ditching four wheel transportation in favor of two.

A recent consumer report survey shows almost 30% of Americans have considered downsizing from four wheels to two, and this has Missoula’s Scooterville seeing a spike in sales like no other summer.

“This year, we’re seeing more people who are looking for a way to get to work that’s going to be a lot more economical” says store manager Nancy McCourt. “And with many of our scooters coming in at 90 miles per gallon, we have that affordable option for them.”

It’s just one way that people are starting to save at the gas pump because for as little as $6, you can fill a scooter gas tank and ride up to 200 miles. Now, more and more people seem to be jumping on the two wheel band wagon, including Landon and Molissa Larsen, who say driving their scooters to work has saved their family hundreds of dollars.

“We’ve probably saved around $40 a week says Landon, and with the couple expecting their first baby in just a few months, and trying to save money here and there, Molissa says the scooter is the perfect transportation to work.

“It’s only a couple of blocks away from home, so I figure it’s not worth getting in the car and wasting that much in gas. It’s an exciting ride to work in the morning. Gas prices are outrageous.  Every time we fill up our SUV;s, it’s $60 here and $80 there…it feels so good when you can go to the gas station and just put $4.50.”

But gas prices aren’t the only thing on the rise as national Statistics show that motorcycle fatalities rising right along side of spiking gas prices, a development that has local law enforcement stressing safety.

“You need to presume the cars are not going to see you. Depending on light or conditions, it’s actually more difficult for drivers in vehicles to see motorcycles or bicycles” explains Missoula Police Sergeant Greg Amundsen.

But safety concerns aren’t stopping the majority of riders as scooter and motorcycle sales are up 24%. People are leaving their gas guzzling vehicles at home and hitting the open road on two wheels for the summer and maybe even longer.

For those choosing to scooter around town, it’s important to remember that virtually all scooters are considered motorcycles under Montana state law, and riders must obtain a motorcycle endorsement to ride them legally. (Reporting from KPAX in Missoula)

Robin Onikul is a 51-year-old pediatric nurse at Children’s Mercy Hospital and a violin player.

Her previous two-wheel experience was on a bicycle when she was a kid. She now commutes to work from her home on the Country Club Plaza on a shiny, red Vespa 150 she traded for just last Saturday.

“I rode my Vespa 50 to work all winter — December and January, just not on days when there was snow and ice,” Onikul said. “I try to stay off the real busy streets, but riding a scooter is my passion. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle, but I understand now what those guys mean about the open road.

“You smell things, hear things and see things you would never notice in a car. I’ve seen beautiful old houses in beautiful neighborhoods that I would never have seen because I would never have driven down those streets.”

And the scooter’s “step-through” chassis means she doesn’t have to straddle it.

“I can sit like a lady, and I don’t have to shift,” she said.

Onikul plays the violin in the Kansas City Civic Orchestra. She straps the violin on her back and rides her scooter to rehearsals.

As for her friends and colleagues, “I think some of them are envious that I’ve got the guts to do this,” she said.

Not everyone, though, can be a scooter commuter.

High gas prices could turn out to be a lifesaver for some drivers. The authors of a new study say gas prices are causing driving declines that could result in a third fewer auto deaths annually, with the most dramatic drop likely to be among teen drivers.

Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School said they found that for every 10 percent increase in gas prices there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths. For drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent.

Their study looked at fatalities from 1985 to 2006, when gas prices reached about $2.50 a gallon. With gas now averaging more than $4 a gallon, Morrisey said he expects to see much greater drop – about 1,000 deaths a month.

With annual auto deaths typically ranging from about 38,000 to 40,000 a year, a drop of 12,000 deaths would cut the total by nearly a third, Morrisey said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“I think there is some silver lining here in higher gas prices in that we will see a public health gain,” Grabowski said. But he cautioned that their estimate of a decline of 1,000 deaths a month could be offset somewhat by the shift under way to smaller, lighter, more fuel-efficient cars and the increase in motorcycle and scooter driving.

Morrisey said the study also found the “same kind of symmetry” between gas prices and auto deaths when prices go down.

“When that happens we drive more, we drive bigger cars, we drive faster and fatalities are higher,” he said.

Morrisey and Grabowski found a nearly identical relationship between gas prices and auto deaths in an earlier study that covered 1983 to 2000. The studies used auto deaths tabulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which hasn’t yet released figures for 2007.

Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said it makes sense that auto deaths would decline as driving decreases in response to rising gas prices.