Let’s talk about e scooters

[lordofthemark]

I mean yeah, I know we are the BIKE forum, but really, I can’t think of a better informed group of people to talk about this with.

Lets NOT talk about where they should be parked (which is the same argument, almost, as the dockless bikes) or whether they should be used on certain crowded trails (a similar argument to the ebike argument, I guess). I want to talk about riding them on streets, in bike lanes, on sidewalks (yup, though I haven’t, yet) in more or less urban areas. (there was already some discussion in the dockless bikes thread, but I think it will get lost there)

Personally while I found riding one interesting, I think I would always prefer a bike, dockless or CaBi, human powered or electric, over a scooter. I found starting it awkward, footing awkward, and hard to get used to having only the one brake, and how the hell do I signal? OTOH I think that is both because I am an “avid” cyclist (so don’t find mounting or dismounting a bike to be a big deal at all) and because as someone born back in the good old days, I missed the scooter craze (and snow board craze, and never did skate boards) So riding with my feet flat down like that is not natural, and the kick to get started is not natural.

Where to ride – I tried it around the Capital Riverfront area – so quiet, griddy streets, and relatively empty bike lanes. Felt odd riding (and esp making left turns) “vehicularly” but that is what you are supposed to do, I guess?

They are not supposed to be used on sidewalks, per Limebike, though I gather its legal to use scooters on sidewalks (does the CBD sidewalk ban apply to scooters as well as bikes). I did not violate that rule, but there are places I would be tempted to.

It said you should wear a helmet. I did not, and gather most users do not?

You could “pause” your ride, which is a fascinating feature. Though I chose not to use it.

I trust we all welcome them into bike lanes? I mean I don’t know about the actual crowded bike lanes (like 15th Street) but I sure think more use of our infra is good (surprise!) and they seem compatible. And, ONE LESS CAR.

Seems like one benefit is you can ride them without fear of getting your clothes caught or dirty with a chain – but all the bike share bikes have chain guards, maybe?

Topic

[mstone]

@zsionakides 191660 wrote:

Moving it 10 feet doesn’t change where it was originally left by the user and the 10ft movement can be picked up by either GPS

No, it really can’t. Consumer GPS isn’t that good.

[peterw_diy]

@mstone 191677 wrote:

No, it really can’t. Consumer GPS isn’t that good.

And it’s not a question of ten feet, anyway, is it? More like 2-3 feet. Have you never had the experience of your $500 smartphone not understanding that you’re driving your car in the HOV/HOT lanes, of it thinking you’re in the local lanes thirty feet away? Why would you think a $500 scooter be so much better?

For parking enforcement, scooter GPS is only useful for preventing grossly inappropriate acts like a known customer ending a ride in the middle of a bridge. There’s no hope of it differentiating between legally in the corral and illegally lying across the sidewalk next to the corral.

[n18]

GPS alone won’t work, but GPS+Fisheye camera would help finding the exact location, unless it’s at night time. I doubt that scooter companies would add cameras though.

[mstone]

@n18 191697 wrote:

GPS alone won’t work, but GPS+Fisheye camera would help finding the exact location, unless it’s at night time. I doubt that scooter companies would add cameras though.

It would have to work at night, but that’s doable. The real question is whether we’re ready for scooters to become 24/7 surveillance devices. (Which is basically what you’d need, in order to identify who’s actually messing with the scooter.)

[Starduster]

Submitted for your approval, from today’s Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-death-of-the-sidewalk/2019/06/28/b89c9bb2-9900-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html?fbclid=IwAR1qIwdhkx0refFjaAUY4k1vL2Nw977Njq3eBcK8Fgjy7V2Ep5t-jKPr-HU&utm_term=.76d8c45e2774

This is a larger and older problem than this crop of E-scooters.

[huskerdont]

The Onion on e-scooters:

https://www.theonion.com/pros-and-cons-of-shareable-electric-scooters-1836243949

[ginacico]

Scooter Repo Men

😡 😡 😡

IMO this is a moral equivalent to predatory towing, which is tantamount to theft.

More reason for local jurisdictions to get a grip on scooter regulations, soon.

[phog]

Yes, I heard about this story some time back; sounds as if it is now coming to a head. Of course, Arizona State has about a thousand impounded scooters that it is likewise holding for ransom. What makes this one particularly unsavory is that the scooters were obviously plucked from public areas and not from complicit landowners as the repo men assert.
The City of Richmond is buddies with a towing company that impounded 300 or so Bird scooters and will auction them in two weeks.

[rcannon100]

@consularrider 191669 wrote:

Please, oh please, just make it stop! :rolleyes:

Wait…. what???? I thought being the forum sour puss was my job.

Just…. wait…. let me finish one more drink. This discussion is sooo fascinating and will surely influence the outcome of policy makers’ decision making

[IMG]https://media1.tenor.com/images/a9f4450d75605fd67fbd0a2f9c973329/tenor.gif?itemid=10954097[/IMG]

[ursus]

I have many times stopped to read the rules that are on the various companies’ scooters. I assume that these are not laws but things that the companies are doing to keep from being sued. I think that I have only once seen a scooter rider wearing a helmet, and other rules like don’t ride on sidewalks are also violated frequently.

Anyway, while on foot and waiting for a light to change, I noticed that a Lyft scooter had something in braille written on the stem. Does anyone know what I says?

[Steve O]

@ursus 192455 wrote:

I have many times stopped to read the rules that are on the various companies’ scooters. I assume that these are not laws but things that the companies are doing to keep from being sued. I think that I have only once seen a scooter rider wearing a helmet, and other rules like don’t ride on sidewalks are also violated frequently.

Anyway, while on foot and waiting for a light to change, I noticed that a Lyft scooter had something in braille written on the stem. Does anyone know what I says?

It says, “If you can read this, do not ride.”

[lordofthemark]

@ursus 192455 wrote:

I have many times stopped to read the rules that are on the various companies’ scooters. I assume that these are not laws but things that the companies are doing to keep from being sued. I think that I have only once seen a scooter rider wearing a helmet, and other rules like don’t ride on sidewalks are also violated frequently.

Anyway, while on foot and waiting for a light to change, I noticed that a Lyft scooter had something in braille written on the stem. Does anyone know what I says?

Some are things that are not laws applying to all scooters, but rules applying to dockless scooters based memoranda of understanding with local govts. For example I think the laws for helmets for a scooter you own are the same as for bikes – not required for adults in va, md, or dc. But the MOUs require the companies to “not allow” helmetless riding.

[Jason]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbj7xb/theres-an-entire-instagram-account-devoted-to-destroying-rideshare-scooters

[Steve O]

[h=1]Are Shared Scooters Good for the Planet? Only If They Replace Car Trips[/h]
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/are-shared-scooters-good-planet-only-if-they-replace-car-trips/595387/

[dbehrend]

@phog 192347 wrote:

. . . The City of Richmond is buddies with a towing company that impounded 300 or so Bird scooters and will auction them in two weeks.

When your scooter company relies on an act-first-ask-forgiveness-later deployment strategy ( https://fortune.com/2018/10/09/bird-ceo-scooters-laws/ ), you’re bound to get burned occasionally. A towing company, contracted by the city and at the order of the city, impounding scooters from a company ignoring cease and desist letters doesn’t sound all that nefarious ( https://richmondbizsense.com/2019/07/11/flipping-birds-flock-impounded-scooters-headed-auction/ ).

[Author]

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