to add my ten cents worth, the whole scooter thing is definitely improving things in Europe, and even to some extent in the UK.
I was a C.B.T.(compulsory Basic Training) bike instructor over there, and all 16 year olds wanting to ride scooters had to take that course b4 bein allowed on the road.
Its a simple one dayer, with 4 hours spent on handling exercises in an off-road area, then a minimum of two hours spent in one to one radio contact on the road with a maximum of two pupils to each instructor.
It was a great way to introduce 16 year olds to the perils of UK traffic, which makes Auckland look like a stroll in the park!.
As scoots are the only thing most UK teens can afford to buy and more importantly insure, they have to lead into life on the road on two wheels, and statistically the inprovements are bein seen as the first guys who went through the cbt are now ten years down the line, and accident rates in that age group are at there lowest ever.
So the system is workin, admittedly a lot of guys still dump two wheels as soon as they reach 17, (min car age) but at least they have the basic skills that you need on a bike to stay alive!, and are more aware of bikes when they are caged up!