Some Random Fellow its a litigation culture and it makes me sick. Judges are too soft and too willing to force payouts over irresponsibility. The downside is everyone losing their sense of safety willfully because money heals all wounds. Stupid through and through.
Actually, with the electronic identity trail, isn't it far more likely to identify a rental scooter operator than a random cyclist, jogger, other pedestrian etc. who bumps into you. So having more people migrate to these scooters would increase your ability to sue if harmed. Oops, turning brain off nowwwwww
"who am I going to sue if I get injured..." Very telling that being her thoughts, instead of "how can we get people to be more cautious and safe while using them, and educate the public about it?"
So who do you sue when a rider leaves one directly in the middle of the sidewalk and someone trips over it? I know a very very well known percussionist who was out of work for a while because of just that and he broke his arm. The rider who left the scooter in a place they weren't supposed to is long gone. The company will blame it on the previous rider. These things are strewn about and often not lined up in a safe manner as prescribed by the company. Riders rarely wear helmets. People under 18 are not supposed to use them and there is supposed to only be one rider per scooter. I saw a middle-aged woman with a child of about 9 riding one of these from In-N-Out in Westwood, no helmets. Three of Bird's rules broken. How much would you like to bet that if they had been in an accident with a car (they were riding in the street, the only Bird rule they followed) they'd sue the driver? Many of these riders seem to have zero concern for their own safety, much less that of others.
+composerdave68 If you cannot sue the rider, since there may be doubt as to whether they are the culprit. Just make it illegal to leave scouters lying around. Fine people, the market will surely develop scouters that can be folded and carried around to your work or place of residence.
This is true! I was just there the other day and saw it first hand. Just a couple of the things I saw were a large black garbage bag full of feces leaking all over the sidewalk and several people sleeping on the sidewalk in large pools of vomit. Dirty and disgusting.
First Uber and now this. How much power does the taxi lobby have in our cities? At 3m50s you have proof positive that activists are useful idiots with asstroturf campaigns.
Johnny, I don't know what media slop-trough you've been feeding at, but if you had even three functioning neurons, you'd be aware that - "commy china" is actually not terribly concerned with making rules for the safety and health of it's work force, or citizens in general. That was really sort of a brain-dead comparison. In reality, if you went all out Libertarian and got rid of all those nasty health and safety regulations, well, you'd be much closer to "commy China".
First Uber and now this. How much power does the taxi lobby have in our cities? At 3m50s you have proof positive that activists are useful idiots with asstroturf campaigns.
Johnny - do you ever hear strange whooshing noises? It probably happens so often you don't even notice it. That's the sound of damn near everything going right over your head. Again - the de-regulated paradise you want *is* "commy China". They have zero worker safety, no real environmental protection, and forget about any health regulations. No one can take you seriously when you cry about excessive regulation, then claim that more regulation is taking us straight towards a country that has none of the regulations you cry about. It just makes you look foolish.
If you feel them banning scooters is bad. I live in the most walkable city in Utah. I there convincing every one to get bikes in this city. Only one problem apparently its illegal to ride bikes on the side walks up here.
That's the real reason politicians start freaking out. "What! Someone did something in my district without seeing me!" They act like they are king and everything has to go past them first before we are allowed to do anything.
Indeed. Crime bosses. Pure and simple. They think every aspect of everyone's lives is theirs to grind and we should thank them when they let you make a choice within their $phere.
rather biased to view government as a thinking entity, it is a elected system, and so will kind of do what the people want, and what people want will never be new ideas, when they start using public buses they didn't invent the bus etc.
"The private sector came up with a better idea than the government! Say it isn't so!" More like, "the private sector came up with a better idea than the government! We say, no!" If it isn't something they can say they "brought" to the city, they don't want it. The filthy scum of these cities are just upset that 1-the private sector regularly makes them look slow, 2-they can't claim credit for great ideas when those ideas don't come begging for permission, 3-existing cartels they established, like taxis and such don't like the competition, 4-new ideas scare them, 5-the politicians want the power and money for their own personal glory, not the betterment of the people - spontaneous free markets don't facilitate that kind of power hunger.
Hey Drax325... (1) Who said the government was a thinking entity? (2) I would argue that because much of what constitutes the "government" is decided only indirectly by elections. For example, the President is elected (direct). But the President makes appointments to the Supreme Court (indirect). (3) Yes, people invent things all the time that don't end up being commercially successful. So?
Hey furtim1... maybe there's a bit of self-selection going on. The people who view government as the solution are more likely to be politicians. Therefore, many (maybe most) politicians view themselves as the solution to all sorts of problems that government is actually really bad at solving. Or, if you want to take a principled perspective... you might say the government (even if you could come up with an government solution that theoretically would work) shouldn't be in certain areas because that's not the business of the government.
+Ted Paul My point is your argument is attributing things to the government it doesn't have. Also ever heard of implication? The govt doesn't do what everyone wants, but it still is moved by the people in some way, so it for example would not come up with a scooter sharing program, unless some who thought of it decided to instead of making a company for money, petitioned people and electors to make a govt program for it. Which path do you think most would take? Now you might think this agrees with you, the problem is the false attributing to deride the govt. Like oranges make terrible mops, laugh, everyone reinforce hatred of oranges. - Also we are all responsible for the govt. -- I probably still not clear.
Solar panels. Buy a couple of them and set them up in series so you can have enough voltage. You can charge all day for nothing more than the initial investment. Harbor Freight actually sells a portable solar panel specifically designed to charge batteries. it's $200 a panel, but if you charge 10 scooters you have recouped your investment. If you are riding a bike with a trailer around the city and picking up dead scooters to take back to charge, I'm betting you will make money fast. Even smarter: Build a "charge station" with an embedded smartphone and scanner. Set it up so people can bring the scooter in, register it with the touchsceen and scanner, plug it in and charge away. Set up a bunch of these around the city at popular hotspots and rake in the cash.
Reason leaves a lot out of this. As someone who lives in a Bird city, they're a pain. The wrecks and stuff are minimal. But, they just get left everywhere. Because they're not personal property, people throw them down in the middle of the sidewalk, which means everyone else has to walk around it. If you're on a bike or your own scooter, it's a massive obstacle. They also put the 'nests' in the middle of sidewalk intersections. If anyone else were to park an object there, the City would move it or throw it away. The response needs to be that the Cities need to consider these things as garbage if they're not positioned in bike racks. The companies need to train their customers to put these things in a place where they aren't going to be a nuisance to everyone else on the sidewalk.
Yes, this was the fair and balanced response I was looking for. I think regulation does have a place in society when stuff like this becomes a public nuisance.
Incentivize people returning them to a docking station or just leaving them standing with a discount, charge extra for people leaving them laying around. Add some lights to help people avoid them in the dark. Wouldn't solve all the problems, but would lessen them
Jason Close My city, a university town, is putting the squeeze on Bird because they told them to go through the proper channels to make sure that this exact thing doesn’t happen. Well apparently they disregarded that and did it anyways, dumping off loads of their scooters. The city’s beef with them is that like you said, they get left everywhere and it poses an accessibility hazard. I’m fairly certain I heard that a fair number of them are impounded currently. Edit: The city specifically said that the littering of these violate the ADA, because the way that they are carelessly parked inhibits (/could inhibit) those with disabilities from accessing public property.
Makes you wonder why he would make a video of himself running a red light and running into pedestrians. And then apparently releasing the video publicly. Sounds like a setup to me. Probably the local cab industry or someone is setting up all this artificial opposition.
They showed up in Birmingham Al., and the local politicians reacted as if it was an alien invasion. They were so scared, and confused at the arrival of...the wheel. Alabama, smh.
I'm from Huntsville, my city govt is a lot more laid back than Birmingham. Up here they seem open to any business, Birmingham city govt is full of statist, has been for awhile.
The problem with this kind of 'shared' bike or scooter is, you can just leave it on the street after using it. The question is, if you can't just leave your, say, furniture on the street (that will be littering, at least in my city), or car (it will be illegal parking) why is it legal for you or the company to dump the bikes on the street? These company are occupying public space to make a profit, without paying any rent. Is it how capitalism in america works? Is it legal for a business owner to occupy the pavement infront of his store for commercial use?
I think I might have to side with the government on this one. It is crazy leaving property anywhere cluttering the place up and expecting police to respond if it is stolen too.
The only problem that I can think of scooters being left lying around. I am sure that you could just pose a fine for obstruction of traffic or something along those lines. This may render them less accessible, depending on how think of it. I also believe that there will be foldable scooters or ones that can be easily disabled in order to reduce storage space.
I was living in Providence, RI when I first saw these things and immediately thought " wow what a great idea! I should enjoy this before the government fucks it up."
Finally got to ride the lime scooters this weekend. More expensive than the buses (so no loss of business to Utah Transit Authority), but great for getting around town faster. For a guy like me that doesn't own a car, these scooters give more more ways to get where I want to be.
Our campus is full of scooters. People on scooters can't seem to remember where the brakes are. I've seen at least ten accidents. Half are riders sliding out of control, usually in the rain. Half are scooters slamming into people on the sidewalk, usually from behind. Every time, the driver runs. They take no responsibility for who they hurt. Even a few stitches are expensive in America. Then the scooters are parked everywhere, clogging the sidewalks, making walking between classes difficult. I can't image how impossible they make it for the mobility impaired. If drivers are responsible, scooters are great. But in reality, people on scooters act like asses. Because, let's be honest, most people are selfish asses.
They do not mention anywhere that these wrecks or collisions have two parties at fault. The irresponsible operators and the oblivious who are not paying attention. If more people were polite, courteous, and attentive there would be far less incidents.
It's painful to see how many idiots think that an accident can only happen if people are renting a scooter as opposed to just buying a scooter or bike themselves. I have no hope for the future.
I LOL'ed when Stossel called them "good exercise". I commute to DC and walk about 5 blocks each way from the train station to work. I've never been hurt by one, but I can see how somebody might be. The spot Stossel keeps showing is the hill between Union Station and the BLS which is straight and has a prominent bike lane (part of my route!). But mostly, these things are on sidewalks that often have twists and turns with planters and greenscape. There's narrow pedestrian access and they go flying through with (depending on the individual) zero respect for pedestrians. I also see these things strewn about in front of the CNN headquarters and other places. It's a form of littering. And odds are good they'll be there all day...maybe multiple days. I'm not saying it's an epidemic. The homeless tents are a million times worse, often blocking 90+% of usable sidewalk, littered trash around and a unique stench. But there are issues that need resolving. I think a good one would be to ensure the things get deposited out of the way. Having no turn-in (unlike the bikes) sounds great, but leads to the things just being dumped in people's walkway.
Regarding the "who do I sue when they hit me?" argument, who do you sue when you are hit by a rented car? The driver. Since its run by an app the rental company has the operators credit card info and thanks to GPS tracking they can verify time and place. If you're worried about confidentiality and false claims the rental companies' best course of action if a complaint is received is to prepare a packet to be sent to local law enforcement reducing the chance that information will be misused. If the claimant gets a lawyer I'm sure there are procedures to get the information they would need from law enforcement.
IMO, I think these bike sharing/e-scooters are definitely going to be huge, even if they are banned in certain cities. I say to the companies that own these scooters to just take them to other cities. These things would be huge on college campuses or any area that has a dense population. The company will grow, regardless of what politicians do. You can already see it is a good idea because the young people are really excited about it.
Scott Black Cycles yep CINCINNATI politicians can fuck up a ham sandwich .. they built a barely used streetcar for tens of millions .. but not before all of city council bought up real estate along the street car route which skyrocketed in value ...
dandanthetaximan Depending on which council member you ask. Some people want to expand the streetcar line up to the university/hospitals. Mind you, I’m not arguing that the subway wasn’t a complete waste, either.
Scott Black Cycles I take the metro bus system daily in Cincinnati which is god awful ... how about they improve that system before building cute streetcars. The metro bus system nears bankruptcy every few years and they toss tens of millions into a streetcar . Makes NO sense unless you’re a council member buying up real estate along the route.
Apart from the inevitable sales and business taxes, the government won't allow companies to just start doing business because they neglected to grease the palms of the government agents, politicians, and unions. Shakedown, break down, just about the time you figure it's alright. Shakedown, breakdown, ya Busted!
I wouldn't ride one but I support this concept aside from how the system of access and charging is done. They should have partnered with stores and community leaders (church's) circumventing the city or state. With how much census and data farming is available they could have easily pinpointed poverty stricken areas, low vehicle ownership, and simple data harvesting opening up an Uber / Lyft app where high demand occurs. While the lead up to launch would be extended it would save money in the long run.
I use bird scooters on a near daily basis. I hardly ever see them being used inappropriately. The popularity is growing as people in my city realize what they have. If they are banned then I will probably just buy my own. If what I heard is true then they're less than $500 each.
@The Last Danite Its an eye sore, its annoying to walk over them, moving my Dad in his wheel sucks when the side walk isn't big enough and theres one right there obstructing us. Its an accepted type of littering apparently. Its like those square box grey/white homes, it bastardizes the view when just left in my neighborhood, and it doesn't help when they're just laying in a yard that is now someone elses problem. Thats so what.
NEVER ask the government for permission for ANYTHING.... this is a free world, you dont need any ones approval, you can do what you want, wherever you want, even in shitty San Francisco ... some one riding a rented scooter is no less safe than some one riding one they own.......... do what you want, thats how freedom works! its your birth right!
I think this is great, though I suggest this company make people watch a video of how to set them like leaving them at a grocery store and how to rid them.
Uh-oh, John ditched the Lime bike without locking the rear spokes to officially end the ride. He probably incurred a huge charge by the end of the day.
Those scooters are on our college campus in a small city in northwest Ohio. Not sure if that city is even on the list of 65 US cities, but it shows us how those scooters are becoming a kind of public transportation option. Don't fight against the scooters, they are much safer than those numerous car accidents and crazy inattentive drivers out there.
We've had the dockless bicycles in my city. They were prone to theft - they had the same anti-theft devices as these scooters and kids worked out how to break the devices off with a screwdriver. So much for that. The bicycles all ended up in unsightly piles at beaches where people were happy to ride them downhill to the beach - but pay to get on a bus to get home up the hills. And from there the cost to the taxpayers began. Retrieving them from waterways, up trees, abandoned on roads and run over, broken and left in public spaces. I called them all 'dump bikes' because that's what happened, just dumped. A local council ended up charging the companies a fee for every bike they had to retrieve or destroy. In the end the most prominent 2 companies went bust because they didn't make money off the bikes. Bankrupt companies and all these broken bikes littering the landscape.
Not gonna lie, i hate the scooters, i ride a bike for work in an area with more bike and walking paths than roads, and 9/10 times i see those damned scooters theyre in the middle of the path, so i have to pull over, move it out of the way or else run over it or slam into a fence. Shouldnt be banned but i really fucking hate them
I live in Chicago where e-scooter sharing won't work in the cold winter so I don't know about the scooter littering issues. However, I've owned my own Bird scooter for over a year now and simply love it. A perfect alternative to bicycling on a beautiful day. They belong in the bike lanes and should be treated just like a bicycle
Canals in Paris. A rivers in Portland. Beaches in California. Filled with abandoned rental e-scooters. It's in the news every week. I wish there was somewhere I could toss my last two replacement Prius batteries.
Without an urban multi-modal framework, including a rational set of rules and decent infrastructure, yes, the scooters are a problem. Randomly mixing pedestrians with scooters or bikes invariably creates problems - and the small wheels on scooters do not deal well with the crappy paved surfaces in many of our cities. A small pothole or paving ridge that a larger-wheeled bike can easily roll over will stop the much smaller scooter wheels suddenly. The rider, unfortunately, is still going fifteen miles an hour when the scooter stops. Where pedestrian and wheeled traffic can be sensibly segregated, given good paving, then absolutely bring on the scooters. Until then, frankly, very few American cities are even halfway safe for cycling - let alone e-scooters.
"A small pothole or paving ridge that a larger-wheeled bike can easily roll over will stop the much smaller scooter wheels suddenly." Only if you suck.
Guess what, bushie. A lot of people *do* suck. I'm sure you can bunny-hop your scooter over three park benches and grind a stair rail. Think an old guy like Stossel up above can? Or that some tired commuter, headed for the bus station after work on an e-scoot is going to be watching for every tiny bump, rut and storm drain at fifteen miles per hour while dodging pedestrians? Or are you stupid enough to make the claim that a 29er bike wheel won't easily roll over pavement defects that will stop a six or eight inch wheel?
If you look at how many pedestrians get killed by motor vehicles...we should be talking about banning cars from our city centres before banning scooters!
Electric MTB would be a much better choice. The larger wheels could roll over stuff that would send u over the bars on those scooters. Also MTB tires are a lot tougher than road bike and hybrid tires. Any bike tire should be 1.75"-45mm wide or wider. 2.5" would be best I think. Hard to pnch flat that. Slimed.
The reckless factor isn't unique to these scooters. The guy at 3:30 who ran the red light and mowed down pedestrians probably would have done the same if he was on a bike. The thing to remember about pedestrians is that they walk forward rather than backward. So if you're impatient and can't wait for them to cross the street in front of you, it's better to ride through six inches behind them, than six inches in front of their faces.
if you can make a penny on your own you can bet that politicians will be there to take their share. God forbid you be free to make a living by helping others
Yesterday on a quick drive from Santa Monica to Westwood I counted 35 scooters slovenly laid down on the sidewalks, on their sides, and four (4) of them sticking over the curb and into the street. When I got to my destination I used one of them. LOVE / HATE
THERE ARE NO OTHER OPTIONS better than e-scooters! Not cars (too EXPENSIVE and energy hungry), not mass transit (insufficient, or non-existent in MOST cities), NOT bicycles (not practical, and more dangerous). The answer is e-scooters, which should require a permit to ride, which includes safety training. Also, more enforcement of traffic laws.
There are scooters that are available now that are designed to look like bicycles and are very comfortable and safe to use. I live in Toronto and this is way better than using congested roads or the packed subway.
No... they are banning them because they are not making any MONEY from them. Politicians ban what they cannot profit from. Politicians and their GREED is the problem... NOT safety.
To all of the politicians and others who want to ban/regulate scooters, I would ask them at the public hearing: "How much is GM and ExxonMobil paying you to ban electric scooters?"...What would their answer be? Let's all go to the public hearings and then post their responses on youtube!!
Some people drive rentals like idiots too or there regular cars. It's not the scooters or companies problems. It's those who rent them that need to be dealt with if they are riding recklessly. Same as bicyclists or personally owned scooter riders.
American haven't encountered walking 5km to reach destination of school or work. Some country badly need this. Better they donate to a better place rather than ban it
Ironically, as I am watching this my local news is reporting 2 neighboring cities are discussing Bird scooters at their city council meetings. After watching this, I hope they pass. I wouldn't have objected to begin with, but this video gave me more knowledge.
And when the scooter "tells" you that the police will be called...it's an empty threat. The only thing preventing people from taking them without paying is the loud shrieking noise.
"Who am I gonna sue when I get knocked down?"
The person driving the thing. Just like if they were running, cycling, or driving.
Oooor perhaps try not to abuse the court system so much and just deal with it like a human being.
This is why we cant have nice things, helpful things get sued out of existence by anyone looking to make a quick buck.
I hate people.
Stanton High, only in America. Sure we have problems of all kinds here in Europe too but we are not suing everybody all the time.
Some Random Fellow its a litigation culture and it makes me sick. Judges are too soft and too willing to force payouts over irresponsibility. The downside is everyone losing their sense of safety willfully because money heals all wounds. Stupid through and through.
Actually, with the electronic identity trail, isn't it far more likely to identify a rental scooter operator than a random cyclist, jogger, other pedestrian etc. who bumps into you. So having more people migrate to these scooters would increase your ability to sue if harmed. Oops, turning brain off nowwwwww
"Who am I gonna sue when I get knocked down?" This pretty much sums up America.
"Who am I gonna sue when I get knocked down?"
What a classy question...
I'll tell her "My name is Sue, how do you do?"
That’s a privileged question.
That’s a Karen question
@@Potatostarch300 Yeah, until you get knocked down and break your wrist.
"who am I going to sue if I get injured..."
Very telling that being her thoughts, instead of "how can we get people to be more cautious and safe while using them, and educate the public about it?"
Uh if you get hit, you can sue the person that hit you. If you injure yourself on it, then it’s your own damn fault.
"who am I going to sue if I get injured..." Your parents for not raising you properly...hippie.
the land of the fee and home of the law suit
So who do you sue when a rider leaves one directly in the middle of the sidewalk and someone trips over it? I know a very very well known percussionist who was out of work for a while because of just that and he broke his arm. The rider who left the scooter in a place they weren't supposed to is long gone. The company will blame it on the previous rider. These things are strewn about and often not lined up in a safe manner as prescribed by the company. Riders rarely wear helmets. People under 18 are not supposed to use them and there is supposed to only be one rider per scooter. I saw a middle-aged woman with a child of about 9 riding one of these from In-N-Out in Westwood, no helmets. Three of Bird's rules broken. How much would you like to bet that if they had been in an accident with a car (they were riding in the street, the only Bird rule they followed) they'd sue the driver? Many of these riders seem to have zero concern for their own safety, much less that of others.
+composerdave68
If you cannot sue the rider, since there may be doubt as to whether they are the culprit. Just make it illegal to leave scouters lying around. Fine people, the market will surely develop scouters that can be folded and carried around to your work or place of residence.
In San Francisco the scooters have a *slipping hazzard* with all the human feces on the ground.
and don't forget the poking/AIDS/HIV hazards from the druggie needles.
Yeah, The tires can get HIV from the needles left everywhere
This is true! I was just there the other day and saw it first hand. Just a couple of the things I saw were a large black garbage bag full of feces leaking all over the sidewalk and several people sleeping on the sidewalk in large pools of vomit. Dirty and disgusting.
First Uber and now this. How much power does the taxi lobby have in our cities? At 3m50s you have proof positive that activists are useful idiots with asstroturf campaigns.
Actually the slippery feces are ON the scooters. look it up.
Everyday I feel more and more like Randy Marsh. "Oh I'm sorry. I thought this was America. I thought this was America!" Stop making dumb rules!!!
I agree. It's sad
Johnny, I don't know what media slop-trough you've been feeding at, but if you had even three functioning neurons, you'd be aware that - "commy china" is actually not terribly concerned with making rules for the safety and health of it's work force, or citizens in general.
That was really sort of a brain-dead comparison. In reality, if you went all out Libertarian and got rid of all those nasty health and safety regulations, well, you'd be much closer to "commy China".
First Uber and now this. How much power does the taxi lobby have in our cities? At 3m50s you have proof positive that activists are useful idiots with asstroturf campaigns.
Johnny - do you ever hear strange whooshing noises? It probably happens so often you don't even notice it. That's the sound of damn near everything going right over your head.
Again - the de-regulated paradise you want *is* "commy China". They have zero worker safety, no real environmental protection, and forget about any health regulations. No one can take you seriously when you cry about excessive regulation, then claim that more regulation is taking us straight towards a country that has none of the regulations you cry about. It just makes you look foolish.
If you feel them banning scooters is bad. I live in the most walkable city in Utah. I there convincing every one to get bikes in this city. Only one problem apparently its illegal to ride bikes on the side walks up here.
To be fair, John, all the human feces and used needles on the San Francisco streets really do pose a hazard to these scooters.
"Who am I gonna sue?"
You are the problem with society.
Lawless Gaming type of thinking is why we can't have anything nice anymore
NOBODY IS GETTIN' SUED, DEAL WITH IT GRANDMA!
This is why we need Trump
Come on John you know the real crime how dare you make money and not pay the politicians
That's the real reason politicians start freaking out. "What! Someone did something in my district without seeing me!" They act like they are king and everything has to go past them first before we are allowed to do anything.
Indeed. Crime bosses. Pure and simple. They think every aspect of everyone's lives is theirs to grind and we should thank them when they let you make a choice within their $phere.
@@brianbagnall3029 very true sir
I have used an E bike to get around for the last 6 years. replaced the battery on it one time. Much more effective than cars.
Good for you! That's awesome!
My body my choice...
philipp s do it on the street . More kinky and cheaper
but ebike won't take you to another city in any realistic timeframe plus winter would be terrible to ride in
So, so energy efficient too. An electric car is still using most of its energy to move the car, rather than the people in it.
Wait, what? The private sector came up with a better idea that the government! Say it isn't so!
rather biased to view government as a thinking entity, it is a elected system, and so will kind of do what the people want, and what people want will never be new ideas, when they start using public buses they didn't invent the bus etc.
"The private sector came up with a better idea than the government! Say it isn't so!" More like, "the private sector came up with a better idea than the government! We say, no!" If it isn't something they can say they "brought" to the city, they don't want it. The filthy scum of these cities are just upset that 1-the private sector regularly makes them look slow, 2-they can't claim credit for great ideas when those ideas don't come begging for permission, 3-existing cartels they established, like taxis and such don't like the competition, 4-new ideas scare them, 5-the politicians want the power and money for their own personal glory, not the betterment of the people - spontaneous free markets don't facilitate that kind of power hunger.
Hey Drax325... (1) Who said the government was a thinking entity? (2) I would argue that because much of what constitutes the "government" is decided only indirectly by elections. For example, the President is elected (direct). But the President makes appointments to the Supreme Court (indirect). (3) Yes, people invent things all the time that don't end up being commercially successful. So?
Hey furtim1... maybe there's a bit of self-selection going on. The people who view government as the solution are more likely to be politicians. Therefore, many (maybe most) politicians view themselves as the solution to all sorts of problems that government is actually really bad at solving. Or, if you want to take a principled perspective... you might say the government (even if you could come up with an government solution that theoretically would work) shouldn't be in certain areas because that's not the business of the government.
+Ted Paul My point is your argument is attributing things to the government it doesn't have. Also ever heard of implication? The govt doesn't do what everyone wants, but it still is moved by the people in some way, so it for example would not come up with a scooter sharing program, unless some who thought of it decided to instead of making a company for money, petitioned people and electors to make a govt program for it. Which path do you think most would take? Now you might think this agrees with you, the problem is the false attributing to deride the govt. Like oranges make terrible mops, laugh, everyone reinforce hatred of oranges. - Also we are all responsible for the govt. -- I probably still not clear.
Soon liability insurance will be required to ride a regular bicycle in the streets! The American dream continues!
first we have to tax....um, license the riders. $49 for the license. $249, for the riders test.
I'd recommend getting insurance for your bicycle anyway. Being covered in case of a bike theft is a great thing if you rely on it for transportation.
@@icedragon769 only if you rely on it for transportation tho. there are easier ways to protect you bike
NC is actually considering making people register their bicycles. No joke.
You will have to liability insurance one day just to walk on sidewalks
We encourage innovation and creative solutions, as long as we get a cut.
-Government
20 BUCKS per charge? I would 100% just make it my life goal to find these things , and charge up em all day. Thats potentially a full days work!
right?! find 10-20 of them a day.
you have to pay for electricity...
How much does Pepco charge you for your electricity? O.o
Pokémon go, but with scooters, and a pay off
Solar panels. Buy a couple of them and set them up in series so you can have enough voltage. You can charge all day for nothing more than the initial investment. Harbor Freight actually sells a portable solar panel specifically designed to charge batteries. it's $200 a panel, but if you charge 10 scooters you have recouped your investment. If you are riding a bike with a trailer around the city and picking up dead scooters to take back to charge, I'm betting you will make money fast.
Even smarter: Build a "charge station" with an embedded smartphone and scanner. Set it up so people can bring the scooter in, register it with the touchsceen and scanner, plug it in and charge away. Set up a bunch of these around the city at popular hotspots and rake in the cash.
Government doesn't want "public" transportation options, or green transportation options, they want CONTROLLED transportation options.
"Mustachioed Marauder" LMAO!
Damn Wright Bros., they didn't get permission first!
Reason leaves a lot out of this. As someone who lives in a Bird city, they're a pain. The wrecks and stuff are minimal. But, they just get left everywhere. Because they're not personal property, people throw them down in the middle of the sidewalk, which means everyone else has to walk around it. If you're on a bike or your own scooter, it's a massive obstacle. They also put the 'nests' in the middle of sidewalk intersections. If anyone else were to park an object there, the City would move it or throw it away.
The response needs to be that the Cities need to consider these things as garbage if they're not positioned in bike racks. The companies need to train their customers to put these things in a place where they aren't going to be a nuisance to everyone else on the sidewalk.
Yes, this was the fair and balanced response I was looking for. I think regulation does have a place in society when stuff like this becomes a public nuisance.
That is such a small, trite issue.
Incentivize people returning them to a docking station or just leaving them standing with a discount, charge extra for people leaving them laying around. Add some lights to help people avoid them in the dark. Wouldn't solve all the problems, but would lessen them
Jason Close My city, a university town, is putting the squeeze on Bird because they told them to go through the proper channels to make sure that this exact thing doesn’t happen. Well apparently they disregarded that and did it anyways, dumping off loads of their scooters. The city’s beef with them is that like you said, they get left everywhere and it poses an accessibility hazard. I’m fairly certain I heard that a fair number of them are impounded currently.
Edit: The city specifically said that the littering of these violate the ADA, because the way that they are carelessly parked inhibits (/could inhibit) those with disabilities from accessing public property.
The companies should ask or pay private property owners to have stations off the public right of way.
3:28 that guy clearly had a red light
Exactly! I have NEVER EVER seen a cyclist run a red light in the city. These are a menace and need to be banned rn!
Makes you wonder why he would make a video of himself running a red light and running into pedestrians. And then apparently releasing the video publicly. Sounds like a setup to me. Probably the local cab industry or someone is setting up all this artificial opposition.
@@brianbagnall3029 it is a live stream. He is always an idiot though. So as an idiot, he is Government's greatest Ally.
Sounds like the scooter crowd will fit in with the biking crowd.
Yeah just glad he wasn’t on the sidewalk tho
Ironic that these cities want cheap, green ways for pedestrians to get around... Then freak out when it happens.
Jameson Korb the politicians did not get whined and dined by the scooter companies tho.. no perks no bribes no bags full of cash ... so ILLEGAL !
They showed up in Birmingham Al., and the local politicians reacted as if it was an alien invasion. They were so scared, and confused at the arrival of...the wheel. Alabama, smh.
I'm from Huntsville, my city govt is a lot more laid back than Birmingham. Up here they seem open to any business, Birmingham city govt is full of statist, has been for awhile.
Little green vehicles laying around can only mean little green men have arrived!
Huntsville Native bring it in I would love to have this here
Agreed
Well you know what they say, in Birmingham, they love the governor.
Im starting to think that it's government that should be banned!
NO !
The problem with this kind of 'shared' bike or scooter is, you can just leave it on the street after using it. The question is, if you can't just leave your, say, furniture on the street (that will be littering, at least in my city), or car (it will be illegal parking) why is it legal for you or the company to dump the bikes on the street? These company are occupying public space to make a profit, without paying any rent. Is it how capitalism in america works? Is it legal for a business owner to occupy the pavement infront of his store for commercial use?
Agree, not to ban it totally, but need certain level of regulation.
There's a rating system for users. If they get rated low they might not be allowed to use the bikes/scooters again.
Reminds me of a song...
"I left my shart in San Francisco..."
I think I might have to side with the government on this one. It is crazy leaving property anywhere cluttering the place up and expecting police to respond if it is stolen too.
Amen
The only problem that I can think of scooters being left lying around.
I am sure that you could just pose a fine for obstruction of traffic or something along those lines.
This may render them less accessible, depending on how think of it.
I also believe that there will be foldable scooters or ones that can be easily disabled in order to reduce storage space.
I’ve used these things. They are really convenient and you can avoid 99% of accidents if you don’t have a brain made of something metallic.
I was living in Providence, RI when I first saw these things and immediately thought " wow what a great idea! I should enjoy this before the government fucks it up."
Finally got to ride the lime scooters this weekend. More expensive than the buses (so no loss of business to Utah Transit Authority), but great for getting around town faster. For a guy like me that doesn't own a car, these scooters give more more ways to get where I want to be.
I think the issue with the scooters is that the people who use them don't know how to use them.
Same with automobile drivers
Kid: "I'm in debt. I've been trying to invest."
That kid knows the struggle. Big props, little man.
Our campus is full of scooters. People on scooters can't seem to remember where the brakes are. I've seen at least ten accidents. Half are riders sliding out of control, usually in the rain. Half are scooters slamming into people on the sidewalk, usually from behind. Every time, the driver runs. They take no responsibility for who they hurt. Even a few stitches are expensive in America. Then the scooters are parked everywhere, clogging the sidewalks, making walking between classes difficult. I can't image how impossible they make it for the mobility impaired. If drivers are responsible, scooters are great. But in reality, people on scooters act like asses. Because, let's be honest, most people are selfish asses.
They do not mention anywhere that these wrecks or collisions have two parties at fault. The irresponsible operators and the oblivious who are not paying attention. If more people were polite, courteous, and attentive there would be far less incidents.
The problem is the hall monitor from your high school years goes on to become a politician. They feed on control. Nothing is okay until they approve
It's painful to see how many idiots think that an accident can only happen if people are renting a scooter as opposed to just buying a scooter or bike themselves. I have no hope for the future.
I LOL'ed when Stossel called them "good exercise".
I commute to DC and walk about 5 blocks each way from the train station to work. I've never been hurt by one, but I can see how somebody might be. The spot Stossel keeps showing is the hill between Union Station and the BLS which is straight and has a prominent bike lane (part of my route!). But mostly, these things are on sidewalks that often have twists and turns with planters and greenscape. There's narrow pedestrian access and they go flying through with (depending on the individual) zero respect for pedestrians.
I also see these things strewn about in front of the CNN headquarters and other places. It's a form of littering. And odds are good they'll be there all day...maybe multiple days. I'm not saying it's an epidemic. The homeless tents are a million times worse, often blocking 90+% of usable sidewalk, littered trash around and a unique stench. But there are issues that need resolving.
I think a good one would be to ensure the things get deposited out of the way. Having no turn-in (unlike the bikes) sounds great, but leads to the things just being dumped in people's walkway.
Regarding the "who do I sue when they hit me?" argument, who do you sue when you are hit by a rented car? The driver. Since its run by an app the rental company has the operators credit card info and thanks to GPS tracking they can verify time and place.
If you're worried about confidentiality and false claims the rental companies' best course of action if a complaint is received is to prepare a packet to be sent to local law enforcement reducing the chance that information will be misused. If the claimant gets a lawyer I'm sure there are procedures to get the information they would need from law
enforcement.
IMO, I think these bike sharing/e-scooters are definitely going to be huge, even if they are banned in certain cities. I say to the companies that own these scooters to just take them to other cities. These things would be huge on college campuses or any area that has a dense population. The company will grow, regardless of what politicians do. You can already see it is a good idea because the young people are really excited about it.
5:30 he said ELECTRIC scooters are good exercise
When my good ol Ford Truck broke down (ok i managed to lose my keys) that Lime bike was a life saver. Hard to argue with 12 miles for $2 rental.
Who am I going to sue when I get knocked down, hah... I wish that person wasn't serious.
Chumba Wumba should be the judge.
My hometown of Cincinnati is considering a lawsuit against Bird Scooters in reaction to a few scooter/pedestrian accidents. Sad.
dandanthetaximan They can’t. They spent all their money on a streetcar no one rides.
Scott Black Cycles yep CINCINNATI politicians can fuck up a ham sandwich .. they built a barely used streetcar for tens of millions .. but not before all of city council bought up real estate along the street car route which skyrocketed in value ...
dandanthetaximan Depending on which council member you ask. Some people want to expand the streetcar line up to the university/hospitals. Mind you, I’m not arguing that the subway wasn’t a complete waste, either.
I forgot to mention the $30MM transit center going to waste under 2nd Street, too.
Scott Black Cycles I take the metro bus system daily in Cincinnati which is god awful ... how about they improve that system before building cute streetcars. The metro bus system nears bankruptcy every few years and they toss tens of millions into a streetcar . Makes NO sense unless you’re a council member buying up real estate along the route.
Apart from the inevitable sales and business taxes, the government won't allow companies to just start doing business because they neglected to grease the palms of the government agents, politicians, and unions.
Shakedown, break down, just about the time you figure it's alright. Shakedown, breakdown, ya Busted!
Scooters are perfect for urban traveling, the reason politicians want to ban them is becsuse they get less parking and gas taxes.
There are over 30 000 deaths by car accident EACH YEAR in the US...
Quite ironic to invoke the "security" argument against these tiny scooters!!!
If you want to zoom around on a scooter, fucking buy one. I'm not limiting transportation options by telling you to buy one.
I'm all for a free innovative market but I fucking hate those scooters.
I don't know why that video intro is one of the funniest things I've ever seen
I wouldn't ride one but I support this concept aside from how the system of access and charging is done. They should have partnered with stores and community leaders (church's) circumventing the city or state. With how much census and data farming is available they could have easily pinpointed poverty stricken areas, low vehicle ownership, and simple data harvesting opening up an Uber / Lyft app where high demand occurs. While the lead up to launch would be extended it would save money in the long run.
I use bird scooters on a near daily basis. I hardly ever see them being used inappropriately. The popularity is growing as people in my city realize what they have. If they are banned then I will probably just buy my own. If what I heard is true then they're less than $500 each.
As long as there are tax dollars and permit fees to collect government will never leave anyone alone.
Who do I sue if I’m knocked over? The person who hit you!
I showed this to my broken freezer
he is chillin now
"Just leave it anywhere".
Umm, that's the most common complaint about these things. They're just left anywhere.
@The Last Danite Its an eye sore, its annoying to walk over them, moving my Dad in his wheel sucks when the side walk isn't big enough and theres one right there obstructing us. Its an accepted type of littering apparently. Its like those square box grey/white homes, it bastardizes the view when just left in my neighborhood, and it doesn't help when they're just laying in a yard that is now someone elses problem. Thats so what.
To be fair that girl didn't look both ways before crossing 3:30 .
"This is fast"
While going down one of the steepest hill I've ever seen in my life
The majority of corruption, kickbacks, regulations, and nanny state thinking is at the local level.
San Francisco bans bags, straws and scooters? How about drugs and needles?
There is so much theft and vandalism that some of these companies had to pullout . Paris was a huge problem.
NEVER ask the government for permission for ANYTHING.... this is a free world, you dont need any ones approval, you can do what you want, wherever you want, even in shitty San Francisco ... some one riding a rented scooter is no less safe than some one riding one they own.......... do what you want, thats how freedom works! its your birth right!
As a district resident, I can say how great these things are!
If we could just get the homeless to pull rickshaws with the scooters maybe we could get both the homesless and the scooters off every street corner.
Love the reporting. Reminds me of the the good old days when John was on 20/20 Etc. More of these kinds of videos please!
“Who’s going to be responsible when I fall down?”
You! You’re fucking responsible for yourself what a concept
"Scooter drivers are rich people" or, err, people who want to get around without cars they maybe can't or don't want to afford.
Stossel is a VERY GOOD journalist.
I think this is great, though I suggest this company make people watch a video of how to set them like leaving them at a grocery store and how to rid them.
Uh-oh, John ditched the Lime bike without locking the rear spokes to officially end the ride. He probably incurred a huge charge by the end of the day.
Nah, Reason got the bill.
Those scooters are on our college campus in a small city in northwest Ohio. Not sure if that city is even on the list of 65 US cities, but it shows us how those scooters are becoming a kind of public transportation option. Don't fight against the scooters, they are much safer than those numerous car accidents and crazy inattentive drivers out there.
Why the Lime "spokeswoman" wearing sunglasses when being interviewed??? Cool idea with them scooters!!! Bravo!!!
We've had the dockless bicycles in my city. They were prone to theft - they had the same anti-theft devices as these scooters and kids worked out how to break the devices off with a screwdriver. So much for that.
The bicycles all ended up in unsightly piles at beaches where people were happy to ride them downhill to the beach - but pay to get on a bus to get home up the hills. And from there the cost to the taxpayers began. Retrieving them from waterways, up trees, abandoned on roads and run over, broken and left in public spaces. I called them all 'dump bikes' because that's what happened, just dumped. A local council ended up charging the companies a fee for every bike they had to retrieve or destroy.
In the end the most prominent 2 companies went bust because they didn't make money off the bikes. Bankrupt companies and all these broken bikes littering the landscape.
Not in the US. Sydney, Australia.
Yep, me included!
Not gonna lie, i hate the scooters, i ride a bike for work in an area with more bike and walking paths than roads, and 9/10 times i see those damned scooters theyre in the middle of the path, so i have to pull over, move it out of the way or else run over it or slam into a fence. Shouldnt be banned but i really fucking hate them
One 30 pound scooter replaces one 2000 pound car. Pretty damn good idea.
the "who am I to sue" lady has a point, you are going to be thousands of dollars in medical debt thanks to no healthcare
Does the company withhold tax or are Chargers independent contractors
I live in Chicago where e-scooter sharing won't work in the cold winter so I don't know about the scooter littering issues. However, I've owned my own Bird scooter for over a year now and simply love it. A perfect alternative to bicycling on a beautiful day. They belong in the bike lanes and should be treated just like a bicycle
Canals in Paris. A rivers in Portland. Beaches in California. Filled with abandoned rental e-scooters. It's in the news every week. I wish there was somewhere I could toss my last two replacement Prius batteries.
Without an urban multi-modal framework, including a rational set of rules and decent infrastructure, yes, the scooters are a problem. Randomly mixing pedestrians with scooters or bikes invariably creates problems - and the small wheels on scooters do not deal well with the crappy paved surfaces in many of our cities. A small pothole or paving ridge that a larger-wheeled bike can easily roll over will stop the much smaller scooter wheels suddenly. The rider, unfortunately, is still going fifteen miles an hour when the scooter stops.
Where pedestrian and wheeled traffic can be sensibly segregated, given good paving, then absolutely bring on the scooters. Until then, frankly, very few American cities are even halfway safe for cycling - let alone e-scooters.
"A small pothole or paving ridge that a larger-wheeled bike can easily roll over will stop the much smaller scooter wheels suddenly."
Only if you suck.
Guess what, bushie. A lot of people *do* suck. I'm sure you can bunny-hop your scooter over three park benches and grind a stair rail. Think an old guy like Stossel up above can? Or that some tired commuter, headed for the bus station after work on an e-scoot is going to be watching for every tiny bump, rut and storm drain at fifteen miles per hour while dodging pedestrians?
Or are you stupid enough to make the claim that a 29er bike wheel won't easily roll over pavement defects that will stop a six or eight inch wheel?
Maybe some people need dockless Rascals.
If you look at how many pedestrians get killed by motor vehicles...we should be talking about banning cars from our city centres before banning scooters!
Electric MTB would be a much better choice. The larger wheels could roll over stuff that would send u over the bars on those scooters. Also MTB tires are a lot tougher than road bike and hybrid tires. Any bike tire should be 1.75"-45mm wide or wider. 2.5" would be best I think. Hard to pnch flat that. Slimed.
@ 4:31 she realized Stossel wasn't against her and that he actually found this opposition just as ridiculous .
The reckless factor isn't unique to these scooters. The guy at 3:30 who ran the red light and mowed down pedestrians probably would have done the same if he was on a bike. The thing to remember about pedestrians is that they walk forward rather than backward. So if you're impatient and can't wait for them to cross the street in front of you, it's better to ride through six inches behind them, than six inches in front of their faces.
It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
It bothers me too much that it seems like she's reading off a script most of the time
If it is a script, it must be false! Ban it!
@@jimlovesgina It felt to me like she couldn't work well just improvising with the different takes and needed a script
if you can make a penny on your own you can bet that politicians will be there to take their share. God forbid you be free to make a living by helping others
Those kids are trying to invest. I love that they are starting so early
I'M SUING THAT WEIRDO LADY IN THE BLUE SHIRT!
Yesterday on a quick drive from Santa Monica to Westwood I counted 35 scooters slovenly laid down on the sidewalks, on their sides, and four (4) of them sticking over the curb and into the street. When I got to my destination I used one of them. LOVE / HATE
THERE ARE NO OTHER OPTIONS better than e-scooters! Not cars (too EXPENSIVE and energy hungry), not mass transit (insufficient, or non-existent in MOST cities), NOT bicycles (not practical, and more dangerous). The answer is e-scooters, which should require a permit to ride, which includes safety training. Also, more enforcement of traffic laws.
There are scooters that are available now that are designed to look like bicycles and are very comfortable and safe to use. I live in Toronto and this is way better than using congested roads or the packed subway.
No... they are banning them because they are not making any MONEY from them. Politicians ban what they cannot profit from. Politicians and their GREED is the problem... NOT safety.
To all of the politicians and others who want to ban/regulate scooters, I would ask them at the public hearing: "How much is GM and ExxonMobil paying you to ban electric scooters?"...What would their answer be?
Let's all go to the public hearings and then post their responses on youtube!!
Some people drive rentals like idiots too or there regular cars. It's not the scooters or companies problems. It's those who rent them that need to be dealt with if they are riding recklessly. Same as bicyclists or personally owned scooter riders.
Something about rentals just encourages people to tear it up.
American haven't encountered walking 5km to reach destination of school or work. Some country badly need this. Better they donate to a better place rather than ban it
Ironically, as I am watching this my local news is reporting 2 neighboring cities are discussing Bird scooters at their city council meetings. After watching this, I hope they pass. I wouldn't have objected to begin with, but this video gave me more knowledge.
Kids investing. Better then most of us
Politicians mad that these companies didn't ask first are the politicians who will only approve businesses of their corporate buddies only.
IT'S NOTHING LIKE SKATEBOARDING!
"SKATEBOARDING IS LIKE SKATEBOARDING"
also that man recharging the scooters was my 6th grade science teacher
And when the scooter "tells" you that the police will be called...it's an empty threat. The only thing preventing people from taking them without paying is the loud shrieking noise.