Yeah, definitely, and I think that’s (unfortunately) why we haven’t seen anything like this make it mainstream. Imo, they’re most compelling as a wholesale replacement for private cars, especially in dense urban neighborhoods. Instead of 2-ton chunks of steel hurtling by at 50 km/h, have a 100-kg (?) glorified tricycles cruising at 25 km/h. The lower top speeds would not only be great for general safety, but it would also discourage them becoming too dominant (like cars have), as they’d be too slow to allow for super long commutes from all the way out in the sprawling suburbs; instead, people would use them for shorter trips and use rapid transit for longer trips.
But with current bike lanes and car-dominated streets, I don’t think we’re likely to ever see something like this take off. It would definitely take a very forward-thinking and committed city council to build the infrastructure to make these viable.
The closest existing thing I’m aware of is Peachtree City, GA, aka the city of golf carts: https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM?si=6mqxbwk98vj6ItJo
Back when I was in my first year of uni, I applied for a part-time job on indeed. Found out it was a scam when they wanted to pre-pay me with a too-big check and have me transfer the difference to some other account. I noped right out of there.
For those who might be unaware, the scam is they send you a fraudulent check, but it might take a few days to be discovered as such by your bank. But in the meantime, the amount shows up in your account and you transfer the money they tell you to (which is a legitimate transfer). Then, when the bank discovers the check was fraudulent, they remove the amount from your account, but you’re left high and dry because you can’t undo the transfer because the transfer you did was legit.