Pasolas are preferred by the ladies because they can ride while wearing a skirt without sitting side-saddle and there are no gears to change so they don't mess up their shoes.
These are fine modes of transportation if the alternative is motoconcho. Just restrict their use to trips of 1 mile or less, never on the highway, in heavy traffic, in the rain, or at night.
Treat it like a lazy-man's bicycle and you'll be fine. That means go no faster than you could on a bicycle, don't ride it wear you would not a bicycle, do go farther than you would on a bike, etc.
Those of you that are against riding motorcycles and pasolas should be equally against riding a motoconcho, a publico, or a jet ski.
I say you'll be fine if you restrict their use to the above. Yes, you can fall and get hurt or get hit by a car or run into a pole. You can also step on a nail, get robbed, twist your ankle, get bit by a dog, run down by a car, or trash your new shoes while walking around town.
A passola should never be a means of transportation. It should be a lazy man's way to avoid walking.