Just five days after a moped accident in Oak Bluffs killed a
Virginia woman, another accident yesterday in Edgartown has left
a 60-year-old moped rider from Florida in critical condition
with severe head injuries.
Oak Bluffs selectman Todd Rebello this week all but admitted that town officials have done a lousy job making moped dealers abide by town regulations, and selectmen agreed Tuesday night to improve local enforcement.
Convinced there's no way to make rental mopeds safe on the Vineyard, Oak Bluffs selectmen this week threw their support behind proposed state legislation that would require anyone renting a moped to have a motorcycle license.
Two middle school teachers from Florida, Judy and Barnard Lorence, should be back in their classrooms getting ready for a new school year, but there's no chance of that now.
Operators of rented mopeds suffered two serious accidents this week on the same stretch of Seaview avenue near Lola's Restaurant in Oak Bluffs. In both accidents, moped operators lost control, crossed the center line and crashed into oncoming auto traffic.
There's money to be made in moped rentals on Martha's Vineyard, but just a handful of people are counting the cash - seven shop owners and four landlords, to be exact.
Promising to show moped dealers no mercy this summer, Oak Bluffs selectmen have begun to toughen up moped bylaws, adding new language that will increase licensing fees, set higher penalties for violations and establish a minimum height limit for child passengers.
Here's the trade. A moped dealer who controls two rental outlets in Oak Bluffs is offering to shut down one moped shop. In exchange, he wants town officials to hand him a liquor license and a sewer permit for a new restaurant near the harbor.
Spring Visitor Becomes Moped Casualty, Suffering Serious Injuries in Chilmark
By MANDY LOCKE
The Vineyard received an unfortunate sign of the summer
season's approach last weekend when a Mashpee woman suffered
severe injuries after her rental moped slipped off South Road in
Chilmark Sunday afternoon.
Denise Davis, 33, of Mashpee, lost control of her moped on a
straight stretch near Quansoo Road as she moved closer to the
road's edge to make room for passing cars, said Chilmark police
chief Timothy Rich.
