Fed-up locals are setting electric scooters on fire and bury

[WanderingWinoZ]

www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bird-scooter-vandalism-20180809-story.html

They've been crammed into toilets, tossed off balconies and set on fire. They’ve even been adorned with dangling bags of dog droppings.



As cities like Santa Monica and Beverly Hills struggle to control a rapid proliferation of electric pay-per-minute scooters, some residents are taking matters into their own hands and waging a guerrilla war against the devices. These vandals are destroying or desecrating the vehicles in disturbingly imaginative ways, and celebrating their illegal deeds on social media — in full view of authorities and the public.

[goldengirlz]

In San Francisco, the city ordered them off the streets until they can start permitting them. I’ve also seen them in Venice and Santa Monica. I agree it can get to be a little much; however I got the sense that most of the people causing the traffic jams were tourists, not tech bros.

[vamoose]

We have them in my small suburb in Silicon Valley and I actually think they’re great. I’ve seen a lot of people take them from their offices to lunch or around town (post office, quick errands). They seem to be fitting the niche of too far to walk but would be a short drive. I haven’t tried them because I’m pretty much always with my kids, but I like hem so far.

[sparrowsong]

Huh.

As far as I know this isn’t a trend that’s reached Colorado. I totally could see it though.

[Michelle]

First saw them in inashville and thought it was an awesome idea.

[ohgillian]

Bird (Byrd?) recently dumped these all over the downtown area here. The city is pissed about it and I’m not clear how they’re going to resolve it.

[jlt19]

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

[Dumbledork]

Aug 11, 2018 13:44:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

Lime has electric scooters here now too. They just got their permit maybe two weeks ago.

Some dude on one almost ran in to like eight people going around a curve down the hill by the Arch. We saw a kid on one the same day that could barely see over the handlebars.

A couple days later, a news release said they’re not allowed on sidewalks anymore and you have to wear a helmet while on it.

[Dumbledork]

Also, I think Byrd initially drop a bunch around STL, but they didn’t have a permit so they had to scoop them all back up.

Lime put theirs out with a permit shortly after.

[lessel]

They’re in Atlanta too. We just drove in town this morning and they were just scattered down the sidewalks. Really strange.

[MrsAxilla]

Aug 11, 2018 13:29:15 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Huh.

As far as I know this isn’t a trend that’s reached Colorado. I totally could see it though.

I think Denver approved them in the last week or two. It was on the news and they popped up downtown right away.

[jlt19]

Aug 11, 2018 13:50:32 GMT -5 Dumbledork said:

Aug 11, 2018 13:44:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

Lime has electric scooters here now too. They just got their permit maybe two weeks ago.

Some dude on one almost ran in to like eight people going around a curve down the hill by the Arch. We saw a kid on one the same day that could barely see over the handlebars.

A couple days later, a news release said they’re not allowed on sidewalks anymore and you have to wear a helmet while on it.

Oh I didn't know this. Why do idiots have to ruin things for everyone!?

[tiramisu]

People leave them in the way all the time, which is annoying. I saw a guy in a traffic lane going the wrong way on a one-way street on one yesterday. People rarely follow traffic rules when using those things. I'm sick of them, though not enough to do anything to the scooters.

[gretchenindisguise]

We have them here and all of the locals I've talked to hate them.

They're loud. Sidewalks are crowded and people are not using them on the street like they should, so it makes sidewalks even more crowded. People act like idiots when riding on them.

And apparently when their battery is low - they beep and keep beeping until someone plugs them in.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 11, 2018 13:29:15 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Huh.

As far as I know this isn’t a trend that’s reached Colorado. I totally could see it though.

Did you miss when the scooter companies dropped them off in Denver when they didn't have permission to? The city rounded them up and held them for ransom until the companies got the proper permits.

[sparrowsong]

Aug 11, 2018 14:44:34 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 11, 2018 13:29:15 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Huh.

As far as I know this isn’t a trend that’s reached Colorado. I totally could see it though.

Did you miss when the scooter companies dropped them off in Denver when they didn't have permission to? The city rounded them up and held them for ransom until the companies got the proper permits.

Lol, yes. I think boulder would be all over this though.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 11, 2018 13:44:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

I think, for cities, they're going to prove a liability because they're encroachments onto sidewalks that should be clear for pedestrians. If you have any kind of mobility issue, these things are horrendous nuisances as people just park them wherever. The bikes, too. I keep waiting for one of these companies to be hit with a liability lawsuit, and an ADA complaint.

[oliviapope]

They were all over DC. There were probably 10 or so scattered around the Lincoln Memorial. I thought it was weird there's no designated drop off like with the bikes you can rent.

[isabel]

Aug 11, 2018 13:40:04 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Bird (Byrd?) recently dumped these all over the downtown area here. The city is pissed about it and I’m not clear how they’re going to resolve it.

This is apparently their strategy (Lime too). They dump bikes and scooters without notice to the city and let people get excited about them. By the time the city has had a chance to make the companies pick up all their scooters/bikes, people are excited and want them back. The city is then kind of forced into working with the companies because of public desire. 

It's kind of a shady business practice, but seems to be quite effective.

I used Lime's bikes when I was in San Diego and loved it. It was a great way to get around the city and cost me like $2. I got to see so much more of the city biking around than I would have taking Lyft.

[InBetweenDays]

I haven't seen the scooters around Seattle, but we have a ton of lime bikes (and ofo and some spin). We actually rode the electric lime bikes to the Pearl Jam concert last night 😊

Here there are no designated drop off locations for the bikes. You just find then randomly using the app.

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2018 13:44:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

Because people are assholes who don’t operate them properly. They’re supposed to only be used on the street, but people ride them in the sidewalk anyway. They go way too fast for the sidewalk. In my old neighborhood, I know of two pedestrians who got knocked over by one within about a week of each other. For one, the paramedics had to be called and the scooter operator got a ticket.

I’m all for alternative modes of transportation, but at least here, the rollout was so bad that Bird wound up removing them all recently.

[stephm0188]

Upper Arlington impounded them. www.10tv.com/article/upper-arlington-impounds-bird-scooters-left-street


I thought it was odd to see them scattered all over in DC.

[Jalapeñomel]

Delivery drivers use them here.

[bowies]

This is timely considering some dingleberry came within inches of slamming into me in DC today.

[winecat]

Aug 11, 2018 17:10:40 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Aug 11, 2018 13:44:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Interesting. Why are people against them (I admittedly didn't read the article). We have a similar program with regular bicycles in St. Louis. I think it's great.

Because people are assholes who don’t operate them properly. They’re supposed to only be used on the street, but people ride them in the sidewalk anyway. They go way too fast for the sidewalk. In my old neighborhood, I know of two pedestrians who got knocked over by one within about a week of each other. For one, the paramedics had to be called and the scooter operator got a ticket.

I’m all for alternative modes of transportation, but at least here, the rollout was so bad that Bird wound up removing them all recently.

Denver code requires that the scooters be ridden on the sidewalk, not in the bike lane or street, which seems dangerous.

[winecat]

Aug 11, 2018 16:06:38 GMT -5 isabel said:

Aug 11, 2018 13:40:04 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Bird (Byrd?) recently dumped these all over the downtown area here. The city is pissed about it and I’m not clear how they’re going to resolve it.

This is apparently their strategy (Lime too). They dump bikes and scooters without notice to the city and let people get excited about them. By the time the city has had a chance to make the companies pick up all their scooters/bikes, people are excited and want them back. The city is then kind of forced into working with the companies because of public desire. 

It's kind of a shady business practice, but seems to be quite effective.

I used Lime's bikes when I was in San Diego and loved it. It was a great way to get around the city and cost me like $2. I got to see so much more of the city biking around than I would have taking Lyft.

I don't know about other cities but getting Denver to allow new businesses to operate under current licensing perimeters is pretty difficult.  The only way to get them to widen their interpretation is to go ahead and start operation AND then they'll give you a license.  I went through this.  

[isabel]

Aug 11, 2018 20:33:30 GMT -5 winecat said:

Aug 11, 2018 16:06:38 GMT -5 isabel said:

This is apparently their strategy (Lime too). They dump bikes and scooters without notice to the city and let people get excited about them. By the time the city has had a chance to make the companies pick up all their scooters/bikes, people are excited and want them back. The city is then kind of forced into working with the companies because of public desire. 

It's kind of a shady business practice, but seems to be quite effective.

I used Lime's bikes when I was in San Diego and loved it. It was a great way to get around the city and cost me like $2. I got to see so much more of the city biking around than I would have taking Lyft.

I don't know about other cities but getting Denver to allow new businesses to operate under current licensing perimeters is pretty difficult.  The only way to get them to widen their interpretation is to go ahead and start operation AND then they'll give you a license.  I went through this.  

I did not know this. Maybe that’s why they do it this way.

[lilibet]

Indianapolis ordered them off the street for a bit but now they're back with a ton of rules. From what I can tell a lot of people hate them because like pp said people are idiots on them.

[winecat]

Aug 11, 2018 21:27:58 GMT -5 isabel said:

Aug 11, 2018 20:33:30 GMT -5 winecat said:

I don't know about other cities but getting Denver to allow new businesses to operate under current licensing perimeters is pretty difficult.  The only way to get them to widen their interpretation is to go ahead and start operation AND then they'll give you a license.  I went through this.  

I did not know this. Maybe that’s why they do it this way.

From my dealings with the city, I'd bet $1M GBCN that's why it happened the way it did.  When I went through something similar, I thought I'd get a ticket.  Nope.  I got a court date.  Thankfully I had a customer who is an attorney help me prep and I argued my way out of a fine.  The city attorney wanted me to plead guilty but I refused unless it was for selling cupcakes illegally because that would have been worth having a record.   

[raangoli]

I noticed those Lime bikes in my town and I thought they were just normal bikes. I really have no idea why they targeted my town since the major stores are on 3 lane highways and we are not a tourist destination or even close to being one. I’m baffled.