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I see accidents (wipeouts) daily with these things. I have become callous and no longer even offer help.

My observation after working in Dallas for years is that at least 95% of riders are breaking the law ,as stated by city ordinance, when they fly down city sidewalks. Not an argument; a statement of fact.

Surfer

I work in uptown Dallas and these bikes and the scooters which replaced them are a PITA. They are primarily ridden on the sidewalks where often inebriated youths fly across driveways and intersections with no regard for law or the safety of pedestrians. When done, these things are left scattered about like trash.

I use a very expensive luxury car for work and was struck by a moron on a scooter while I was sitting idle in my driveway waiting to turn onto a street. The miscreant saw that he had damaged a ridiculously expensive vehicle and sped off while yelling at me as if I was somehow in the wrong while he was illegally riding a motorized vehicle on the sidewalk. No helmet. No regard for the law.

Truth be told there appears to be a system. The bikes arrive in a city overnight. They are used and discarded until all of the sudden the scooters arrive and then; as happened in Dallas, the bikes disappear overnight. The scooters are ridden illegally and all manner of bad things happen until a slew of lawsuits threaten these companies slim profit margin and then they move on to the next city. It is a hit the city hard and fast and make what we can as quickly as we can and then move on method.

Some of the outlying cities around Dallas have already banned these things. There may be companies which have a more permanent business model (return stations), but not the ones that have hit Dallas.

21$ per unit is not much when one considers the damage, accidents, cleanup and disruption these things cause. If it runs them out (it shouldn’t) then the citizens of this city should get a bike, a helmet, and obey some laws that are in place for everyone’s safety. I’m sure the scooters will move along soon enough like a bad carnival.

Sorry for the rant, lots of personal experience,
Surfer