Scooters, scooters, everywhere!

treeguy64

treeguy64

Hari Om, y'all!
Location
Austin, TX.
I live in a city that routinely places first, as the most desirable place to live, in the US. Austin is a high-tech center, right up there with Mountain View. We had driverless cars, from Google, cruising around, before any other cities had even heard of them.

Being high-tech, we routinely get new, trendy things thrown into the mix. For the past two years, or so, we've seen an explosion of electric scooter companies open. Now, on practically every major corner, you can see piles of discarded scooters. They are ugly and a safety hazard.

To clarify: I'm talking about the scooters you stand on. You find one by looking at an app, you rent one by swiping the code from your phone app to the scooter's reader.

If Austin was not pc, to the max, some city ordinances would mandate that the damn scooter companies provide racks, AND enforce such mandates with stiff fines. That's not Austin, though. It's too "groovy," for that.

What's the scooter scene in your town? Have you been hit with a scooter invasion?
 

Seen one older lady riding one yesterday, and, to tell the truth, wife and I said a prayer for her safety. Other than that one scooter, just cars, some "redneck" Tonka Toy looking trucks, Harley's and "crotch rockets" here in Jacksonville, FL.

Now, down in St Augustine, we seen a Scooter Rental place along the main street there.
 

We live not too far from many major cities so see them all the time but they are always being used by someone. There arenā€™t any left around any where that Iā€™ve seen. If there were then they have been claimed by someone else.
 
Scooter? What's a Scooter??

Seriously, no scooters here. The only half way "cool" things we have here are bikes for rent in the downtown area. You can ride downtown or go a little farther and take the trails by the river. They are in racks you can walk up to, put your credit card in and ride off. There are several locations that have racks of these and you can just leave it in any of the bike racks when you're done.
 
Uptosnuff said:
Scooter? What's a Scooter??

Seriously, no scooters here. The only half way "cool" things we have here are bikes for rent in the downtown area. You can ride downtown or go a little farther and take the trails by the river. They are in racks you can walk up to, put your credit card in and ride off. There are several locations that have racks of these and you can just leave it in any of the bike racks when you're done.
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When I went to Hawaii with my daughter last month, they had those rental bikes all over there, too, and I thnk that it probably worked the same way, you rented it wherever you started out at, and then parked it in any location for bike rentals when you were finished with it.
This seems to me like it is a great idea, saves money spent on cars and gas, as well as no pollution.

I donā€™t think that we have seen scooters much around here , either, and I was also wondering what kind of scooter you are talking about, Treeguy, that people would just leave laying around on the street somewhere ? It would seem that they would be too expensive to just abandon them.
 
Our local TV news comes from Columbia, MO....home of the University of Missouri...and there are frequent reports about the proliferation of these electric scooters, and how they are becoming almost a hazard to pedestrians. They frequently show pictures/video's of them being left all over the sidewalks, etc. There have been a couple of fatalities where scooter riders tangled with cars, and the local govt. up there is trying to find a solution to this increasing problem.
 
We don't have any e-scooters in my town but the city has them. E-scooter companies are leaving though because of fees and too many rules. Riders are also having to sign contracts with all responsibilities on them if they're injured or if their e-scooter is stolen they have to pay for it unless they have proof they parked it properly, according to rules.

The client using the e-scooter can end up with $1,000 in tickets if they don't obey all the rules. The company has to pay guys to go out in the night and collect all stray e-scooters, charge them, and return them to populated areas.

I think they're pretty much gone now.
 
Where I live, most of the kids have these scooters. I live at the bottom of a hill and the kids zoom down the middle of the road. It's a miracle no-one has been killed yet. Dare I admit it? I've bought myself one but haven't yet had the courage to venture out on it.
 
Come to Dallas!!!!
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180202155751-dallas-bikeshare-780x439.jpg

Z
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[FONT=&quot]Electric rental scooters showed up in Uptown and Downtown Dallas on Friday just two days after the city approved a six-month pilot program.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Two companies, Bird and Lime, have placed scooters around parts of the center part of the city. Each is allowed to deploy up to 500 scooters.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bird said its goal is to reduce urban congestion and give people a quick easy way to get around when it's too far to walk but too close to drive. The Santa Monica-based company is placing the scooters near packs of rental bikes.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
 
We don't have scooters here out in the rural shires..although the city ( London ) has quite a few.. but the real problem is Bikes..

This is just one little cycle parking area of many in the City of Cambridge just 30 minutes from here


Bikes%20at%20Cambridge%20Station%20%28CC%20licensed%20by%20mattbuck4950%29.jpg
 
I've only seen a few people on scooters by me, and not sure if they're rented or owned. They mostly ride on the sidewalks, since I'm driving they haven't affected me. We did have a lot of those rental bikes, lime green and yellow in nearby parks, but it seems they faded out for some reason.
 
Kind of bugs me that they need no licence, no insurance, no registration tags, and yet they travel freely on the roads where I have to have all three of those things to ride a motorcycle. Same goes for those cuss'ed side by side and 4 wheeler off road vehicles. I guess the off road part is lost on a lot of those folks. :mad:
 
Whoever approved of these stupid scooters must have thought paramedics don't have enough work to do. They're here in CA, too. I sometimes see one on the sidewalk weaving in & out of pedestrians. Just as I predicted, many people have been injured by them & some have been killed.

One thing for sure: If I ever got hit by one, the rider better make sure I'm injured seriously enough so I can't get up & take him apart.
 
Falcon said:
Well, Ya gotta admit, they make it a lot easier for getting around town.
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squatting dog said:
Kind of bugs me that they need no licence, no insurance, no registration tags, and yet they travel freely on the roads where I have to have all three of those things to ride a motorcycle. Same goes for those cuss'ed side by side and 4 wheeler off road vehicles. I guess the off road part is lost on a lot of those folks. :mad:
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Iā€™ve got missed feelings. While I find it somewhat unfair, I really feel for people who need to get from point A to point B and have no license so I leave them a wide girth while driving past them. They seem to look like interesting characters. People who have total disregard for other drivers are few and far between in our neck of the woods.
 
Jump_Bikes_Providence.jpg
Social Bicycles Inc. is doing business here in the Sacramento,CA area under the name "Jump". They have installed racks in popular areas like libraries, post offices, apartment complexes, etc; where bikes/scooters can be picked up/dropped off. They apparently have a GPS system where van drivers can locate/pick up stray bikes and return them to strategic locations.

They even seem to know when a unit is still in use for example: shopping, attending a sporting event, etc; in which case it will be left for the customer to use on their return trip. There are negatives involved (reckless joy riding for one), but overall I believe it is a good service for those who need to get around cheaply.
 
Thatā€™s a great service and a good idea. A built in GPS system. I bet in big busy cities, this is probably a great idea. Getting around in a city can be horrid especially in rush hour. It cuts back on traffic, travel expenses and pollution. Itā€™s a win - win.
The dog is adorable.
 
A friend of mine came up with this idea roughly 15 years ago. He's rolling in his grave wishing he would have followed through on his superb idea. But then again the technology needed to make such a venture a success, was probably not available to him at that time. So... he's "kool" with it. ;)

The dog's name is Little Bill.
 
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The op wrote ā€œa scooter you stand on.ā€ I think 911 is right. That sounds like a Segway.

The scooters that I have seen around are the type the rider sits on. Every now and then I see one on the road.
 
JUMPscooter.jpg
I believe the op is talking about the Jump type scooter in which the two wheels are in the traditional fore and aft position, as opposed to the Segway's side-by-side two wheel position. The J scooter is capped at a top speed of 15 mph, but there are some riders that appear to be going faster than that. This vehicle has both a hand and heel braking system for added braking power.
 
The J Scooter hasnā€™t been real popular here in the east. Kids have them, but because they have restrictions of where they can be ridden, they really havenā€™t caught on. I think you have to be 18 to drive them on the road, so by that time, most kids have their car for transportation. Kids that old will generally ride them out at a skate park, if the park has a place for them.

We do have some bike and skate parks and I have seen them there. Some of these kids today are very talented at riding one or the other. I really enjoy watching the skateboarders. My son was into that skateboarding when he was in high school, but not in competition. Still, it was fun just to watch the kids and all what they could do on their boards and bikes.
 


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