Assignment 7A: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The Opportunity- Students and people in Florida that ride/own scooters possess inadequate knowledge of riding and being safe while being on a scooter because courses do not exist for the riders to take in Florida regarding safety and driving etiquette. 

• The Who: Students and people in the state of Florida that ride/own scooters or the people thinking about buying a scooter.
•  The What: They possess inadequate knowledge of riding, parking and being safe while being on a scooter.
• The Why: Driving and safety courses don’t exist in Florida for scooter riders to take regarding safe driving and driving etiquette.

Hypothesis- My hypothesis will be extending from the why part of the opportunity. I believe that driving and safety courses don’t exist in Florida because having to complete the course to buy and ride the scooter is not a requirement as it is for someone who rides a motorcycle. It is a law that you need your motorcycle endorsement to ride a motorcycle, however, it is not a law that you need to complete the driving course to ride a scooter. Additionally, I believe that the courses are not offered in Florida because people are unaware of the consequences that come from inadequate knowledge, so they haven’t been offered at all. This subject of scooters is very important for me because I ride a motorcycle so I believe anyone that rides on two wheels should know how to ride properly and safely.

• Testing the Who: Other people that are not included in the current ‘who’ share this need. There are other people not in this who because there might be other states that do not have scooter courses available to take so they can sharpen their knowledge. Also, other people that drive on the road, including motorcyclists, are not included in the who but still share this need because they interact with scooters on the road.

• Testing the What: The boundaries of this opportunity would be people being lazy and not wanting to take the time to properly learn how to ride the scooter in the first place. Another boundary would be having to go through the DMV to get this class approved to be able to teach. Also, for the courses, finding a person that can teach it will be a challenge as well.

• Testing the Why: This is a need for everyone because having more knowledgeable drivers and riders on the roadway will make it safer for all. The number of scooter-related accidents will drop significantly. Not all will think that the courses are a necessary thing to have and will continue to risk their safety and others on the road. Some riders will blame not offering these courses on the state government, others will blame other drivers not knowing how to drive on the road.

Interviews-

• Person #1: An 18-year-old Female

This individual is thinking about buying a scooter and would like this need for her safety and well-being while being on the road riding her scooter. Also, to be a more defensive driver the course is even more important to her. She said that having this course offered before buying her scooter is very important because she believes it will enhance her riding experience later throughout college.

• Person #2: A 21-year-old Male

This individual does own a scooter but still does not have the proper driving and safety knowledge a scooter rider should have. Even though he already has been riding a scooter for about a year or two, he said that he would like the opportunity to take a class to learn more about riding a scooter and doing it more safely. He stated that this course is not only important for new scooter riders but also for older riders. This belief because he knew someone that just started riding a scooter recently and didn’t have the proper knowledge and that person broke his leg. He said that the event has solidified his stance of requiring this service.

• Person #3: A 22-year-old Male

This individual owns a scooter and he took the motorcycle driving and safety course because his parents made him so then he could purchase a scooter. He still believes that this need is important and would like the service of the scooter courses to be offered to someone purchasing or riding a scooter. He believes that because of the information from the motorcycle course almost goes hand-to-hand with some connections between the driving knowledge. He believes that everyone should take this course to make sure not only that person is safe on the roadway, but other drivers are too. 

• Person #4: A 20-year-old Male

This individual owns and has been riding his scooter for over two years and he does not like the idea of this course being offered. He stated that it would be a “waste of time and money” and that riding a scooter is not all that hard. He thinks that his driving is good and that he won’t get hurt from not knowing how to ride properly and safely.

• Person #5: A 23-year-old Female

This individual owns a scooter but never took a scooter driving and safety course. She would love the service like this to be offered because of her personal experience and wouldn’t want anyone else to go through it. She states that she just started riding one her first year in college, however, she did get into an accident in her third year due to the lack of rider knowledge. Also, she would recommend taking this course to anyone riding a scooter if they never took a driver/safety course for a two-wheel mode of transportation.

Summary of Interviews-  

After going through all the interviews with the five different people, I found that a decent number of people from the audience that I am targeting are interested in the service. I learned about my opportunity that I did not know already is that most of those people that are interested are the newer scooter riders. A smaller population of current scooter riders would be interested in the service because someone they know got hurt riding them. Now they want to gain the proper knowledge for riding so the same thing would not happen to them. Furthermore, not stated in the interviews, people that complete the course gain a better understanding of the scooter and how to ride safely. The completion of the course will also give them an appreciation of others and propel the people to the point where they might want to ride motorcycles which would bring more business to the market. Overall, I learned there was a lot of buzz about the service and will help students and people be safer on the road.