ATLANTA — Candles, blue balloons and the hope of change - all in honor of Eric Amis, more commonly known by his friends and family as "EJ." The 20-year-old was hit and killed while riding on a dockless electric scooter last week, according to Atlanta Police.
It happened at the intersection of West Lake Avenue and Browning Street on Wednesday. On Thursday night, family and friends held a vigil in the same place as the deadly incident.
“We do believe in our hearts that if it had not been the law - that he would have to take that scooter and put in the street - that he would be alive today," Amis' uncle, David Roy, told 11Alive's Elwyn Lopez.
Photos: Vigil for man killed while riding e-scooter
Police said the victim was leaving the West Lake MARTA station when a red Cadillac hit him. The driver told police the man on the e-scooter appeared at the last second and that she tried to avoid hitting him, but was unable to do so.
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Roy remembered Aims as a "wonderful, vivacious" young man.
“He was quiet, conservative, hard working," Roy said.
Roy said the scooters are dangerous and shouldn't be on the street.
“They need to be banned. We want the scooters banned," Roy said into a megaphone at the vigil.
Amis' father says his son was coming back home from work at the Marriott in Downtown Atlanta.
“He just had his uniform on, right down the street, and then the worst happened," he said, adding, "he is the first person to die on a scooter in Atlanta, Georgia, so it’s history in itself, and it won’t be vain.”
Many of Amis' relatives who were at the vigil said they believe the best way to honor the 20-year-old is to create change in the way dockless electric scooters are operated around Atlanta.
Already, Atlanta city officials have called for establishing a method of tracking scooter-related injuries and have implemented tighter restrictions. Several other metro Atlanta cities, however, have banned the scooters altogether, including Athens and Marietta.