Photo: Erik Wemple

My editor snapped this photo at Ross Elementary School, where his kids attend, on R Street NW between 17th and 18th. He was kind of annoyed to see a scooter locked to a bike rack, since it was taking so much space away from the Ross kids who bike to school now.

We sent the photo to D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle to see what the policy is with scooters on bike racks. We were surprised to learn that this here is kosher.

"I’m told anything over 50cc’s is a motorcycle and should be treated as such," Lisle emailed. This scooter here, which appears to be Genuine's Buddy 50, is 50cc's on the dot, meaning it can be locked to the rack. (If it were the Buddy 125cc model it could only be parked on the street.)

We do think scooters should have sidewalk parking of some sort. But we're not sure they should be able to avail themselves of bike racks. Does this seem like fair policy to you?