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.
Four weeks after her younger sister was killed in a moped
accident in Oak Bluffs, Christina Dunnet Davis is vowing to join any
campaign that will rid the Vineyard of mopeds.
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.
The 30-year-old woman killed in last Saturday's moped accident in Oak Bluffs loved to make furniture, especially chests and tables. Kate Dunnet Miller was president of her high school alumni association. "There was a charisma about her, a vibrancy. She was a real extrovert," said her mother-in-law, Dr. Caryn Miller of Washington, D.C.
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.
According to new statistics released this week by Martha's
Vineyard Hospital, the number of people injured in moped accidents
during the first seven months of the year dropped sharply for the second
year in a row.
Oak Bluffs had fewer mopeds and fewer dealers renting them this year. Now the hospital is reporting fewer people ending up in the emergency room after crashing a moped.
Voters in Oak Bluffs could put a significant dent in the number of mopeds rented in their town if they back a tough proposal put forth by selectmen. At a special town meeting on June 18, residents will be asked to approve a bylaw that would cut down the number of moped dealer licenses issued each year from seven to five.