Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Alberta gov’t spokesperson gets hell for Tweet of grandfather using enclosed scooter on sidewalkSamantha Peck, Press Secretary to Alberta’s Associate Minister of Natural Gas, figured she was sharing a message the public could get behind when she Twitter-posted a video of her grandfather, who’d lost his license following a car accident two years ago, driving an enclosed scooter on a snowy sidewalk. But it turns out Twitterers were less happy about one man’s reclaimed freedom of mobility and much more concerned about the fact i) someone deemed unfit to drive a car on the roads was now basically driving one on the sidewalks; and ii) the video looked like it was shot by someone driving in a car. The Tweet has since been removed, but the question stands: do scooters that look like small cars belong on sidewalks? Take our poll here. BMW’s Halloween prank Tweet to Mercedes kinda backfiredNice one, @BMWUSA. That’s a really scary costume! Especially that radiator grille Daimler AG (@Daimler) October 31, 2019Feeling frisky on Halloween, BMW USA Tweeted out an image of a Mercedes-Benz wearing a ‘costume’ to make it look like a BMW, captioning the post “Now every car can dress up as its favourite superhero.” But M-B parent Daimler clapped back quickly, quipping “That’s a really scary costume! Especially that radiator grille…” Now, we say the Tweet only “kinda” backfired, because it only kinda fired to begin with. Partially because this is a heavy dad joke cloaked in some fancy Photoshop, and also because Pepsi did basically the exact same thing back in 2013. Dum-dum drivers close down Toronto highway to display sloppy drifting skills View this post on Instagram This is not only dangerous and illegal, it is disapointing when a mob mentality of hijacking a highway to make a scene like this is conducted. We are better than thisaren’t we? A post shared by Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@sgtkerryschmidt) on Nov 3, 2019 at 6:24pm PSTToronto police have shared a video of a group of young – let’s call it like it is, shall we? – idiots blocking a major highway in order to perform a bunch of sloppy donuts. The video shows a lineup of vehicles stopped by a crowd and waiting on Highway 409 as a few cars spin around on the road. The video’s caption reads “You car meetup mans are savages for closing down the highway like this…” The police re-captioned it: “We’re better than this…aren’t we?” The Bronco R prototype gives us a taste of truck to comeFord has revealed a Baja racing prototype of its upcoming Bronco SUV, providing the most in-depth look at what (might) be so far. The Bronco R is heading off to the Baja Peninsula to test its mettle and metals on the demanding off-road terrain. The prototype features a lightweight composite body with a clamshell hood and roof and body panels that throw back to the first-gen off-roader. Will the old-school design elements make it through to production? We’ll find out when the Bronco arrives next spring. Canada to get VW Mk. 8 Golf and ID.4 in 2021When the latest Golf debuted last month, it was unclear whether Canada and the U.S. would receive any trims other than the high-end GTI and R spec. But Volkswagen Canada recently confirmed that Canada will definitely be getting the base model Mk.8 Golf as well as the fully electric ID.4. Delivery of these products to the U.S. market on the other hand, is still TBD. The cars are expected to arrive in Canadian dealerships in 2021 as 2022
Origin: News Roundup: A sidewalk scooter scandal, BMW’s Halloween Tweet gone wrong and the Bronco R
Scooter
Seat to launch electric scooter as urban mobility vehicle
Seat will launch a new electric Scooter later this month, as part of the Spanish firm’s attempts to become a leader in ‘urban mobility solutions’ to tackle congestion in large cities. The eScooter, which is being developed in collaboration with Barcelona-based motorcycle maker Silence, will join the upcoming Minimo and the eXS Kickscooter in the company’s new urban transport line-up. While Seat has not given performance details, it says the eScooter features a 100% electric powertrain equivalent to a 125cc petrol bike. It will be presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona later this month. In recent years, an increasing number of car companies have started targeting solutions for crowded cities. Earlier this year, Seat announced that it would spearhead efforts in the segment within the Volkswagen Group. Last year the brand piloted a fleet of prototype car sharing vehicles, modelled on its upcoming Seat eMii, which users could rent through a mobile app, and a forerunner to its eScooter, the Segway-based eXS. In 2021, Seat will introduce a new small electric city car. The Minimo develops the concept of the Renault Twizy and fronts the firm’s increasing emphasis on small and environmentally-friendly transport alternatives. Seat boss Luca de Meo said that “the constant growth of large cities makes achieving efficient mobility one of the main challenges to
Origin: Seat to launch electric scooter as urban mobility vehicle
Scooter tweet earns Alberta gov’t spokesperson backlash
A wave of backlash compelled an Alberta governmental spokesperson to take down an early November video of her grandfathers mobility scooter, given to him after he lost his license, driving down a residential sidewalk in Calgary.Samantha Peck is the Press Secretary to Albertas Associate Minister of Natural Gas, and in a now-deleted November 1 Twitter post, shared what she thought was an uplifting message about her grandfather, who had lost his drivers license two years ago following a car accident.The loss of his independence had devastated him, she wrote. This week, my dad surprised him with an enclosed electric scooter so he can travel around. No license needed, concluding with a heart emoji.However, the video, apparently shot from the left side of a car driving on the street, received so much backlash she felt compelled to delete it.A barrage of Twitter users took issue with the idea of someone having been determined unfit to drive a motor vehicle instead taking to sidewalks in something that looks very much like a small car. Others noted it might be awkward navigating around other pedestrians for example, wheelchair users in the motorized device, or called out the filming-while-driving in the video.The scooter is built by Toronto company Daymak specifically, it seems to be a Boomerbuggy X. With a top speed of 13 km/h, its hardly quick, but its still about three times faster than walking.At 41 inches wide, its not much wider than a standard wheelchair, but does have features more like a car, including a heater, air conditioning, lights, a horn, turn signals and even a backup camera.However, Twitter users coming to Pecks defense noted Alberta winters get cold really cold and an elderly person might not be able to withstand those conditions in an open scooter. The Boomerbuggy X arguably provides a level of safety in winter other scooters cant.👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 people’s inability to understand situations without explicitly being spoon fed the context is astounding. https://t.co/B0PEJz5ghx Samantha Peck (@samanthajaypeck) November 4, 2019Others noted the video was taken in the suburbs of Calgary, Alberta, which, having seen snow for two months already, were likely to have been barren of pedestrians anyway.Who do you think is in the right on this issue? It is, really, just a scooter, after all, one designed for sidewalks does it really pose a risk to other users? Or is there an issue with someone unfit to drive cruising toward pedestrians at 13 km/h?Take Our Poll
Origin: Scooter tweet earns Alberta gov’t spokesperson backlash
All about car 