2mo ago

Lime and Bird [rental companies] are now on the hook for bad scooter and e-bike behavior in Denver

denverite.com

Lime and Bird are now on the hook for bad scooter and e-bike behavior in Denver

8 comments

Since getting an ebike last November I've become a proper micromobility evangelical, but I hate these companies. They use gig workers as mobile mechanics and otherwise never seem to actually interact with their fleet, allowing users around here to throw them into waterways and block wheelchair access on sidewalks. When I move the bike it screams at me because I didn't pay it for the privilege. My city refuses to just do those rentals through a municipal fleet or contract it out to the bike co-op that is a massive community asset. Instead we get all the externalised costs of Uber with terrible bikes/scooters and no safety equipment.
Make them bleed.
- Okay this is one of those "as a communist you need to have two opinions on everything" type cases but joining the war on e-scooters is going to lead to nought but more car. The most viable path here would be to do accelerationism now that people have gotten used to the service, running it out of business, and having some sort of popular front to make it a municipal service but that is not going to happen. The answer to "the city can't be arsed to do traffic enforcement" is not "well just privatize it then" much for the same reason that'd (or is) a terrible idea for fighting cars
  
  I'd still support any micromobility rental company over allowing any car into a city because it induces demand. However, sloppy implementation turns the public against them and leads to unnecessary restrictions instead of the regulations which would protect riders and encourage more pedestrian infrastructure. That technology should be introduced to the public as the much better option it is with as few incidents as possible before it reaches mass adoption. I don't want people thinking they're more dangerous or wasteful or inconvenient than the reality of comparing them to a car, but it's those incidents that reinforce that perception.
Still annoyed at the double standard cities have for bad micro mobility behavior over bad car behavior.
- I'm glad Colorado cities, Denver included, are starting to use photo and radar-enforcement of speed limits. Aggressive and reckless drivers still have to be reported over the phone but speeding is automatically penalised. It's so much safer for me to hold an AR-15 than drive my car to work through my city. That AR-15 points in exactly two directions- down or at a specific target. I can guarantee nothing will happen whether I'm alone or in a huge crowd because I strictly control the safety. No matter how safe I drive, I could kill someone or an animal the next time I do so. It's so much easier to manage chaotic situations on a bike.
These fucking things are always left blocking the path. When it's particularly egregious, I stop my electric unicycle and drag them out of the way and the goddamn things have the temerity to antitheft beep at me for moving them.
The rental escooters here are used as bowlingballs by students. There's a wreck in every ditch. A sign that we can't function in a utopia as a society.

8 comments