# eScooter(Lime/Bird) rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 29, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855 "2018-12-29T04:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/1 "2018-12-29T04:02:13Z")
I’ll start off by saying eScooters are a neat idea in concept. But… A good percentage of users in my ‘hood are real jerks. Just today I’ve encountered 4 eScooters left in the friggin’ middle of the sidewalk and a gang of 5 eScooterites tooling their way through an intersection against traffic at a red light. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/2 "2018-12-29T04:29:41Z")
Maybe a link so that the apparent Luddites among us can learn what the hell an e-scooter is? It WOULD help us in getting on board with your rant. Also: “Lime/Bird?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/3 "2018-12-29T04:33:42Z")
My guess is that the OP is talking about the new scooter-services for urbanites. There have been various complaints as passangers (not the companies) often leave them in strange or obnoxious places. There are various accusations, complaints, and etc that you might expect, basically going in all directions. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/4 "2018-12-29T04:39:13Z")
The eScooters of which I speak are publically available electric scooters that you can rent via apps and use for urban transport. Like I said, good idea, but the users need training in common courtesy and rules of the road. [Lime Scooter Rental](https://www.li.me/electric-scooter) [Bird Scooter Rental](https://www.bird.co/how/) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/5 "2018-12-29T04:41:42Z")
Ta. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/6 "2018-12-29T07:02:37Z")
In cities with a CBD, they are reasonably popular, and Limes (which has set up a presence in my city of Brisbane Australia) asserts that they have GPS locators in them so that they get picked up and recharged overnight, so no piling up of unwanted scooters like old shopping trolleys. But an hour south is a huge beach resort city (the Gold Coast) that is very decentralised, making the scooters much less useful. There, the local council has claimed it will pick up every scooter it sees and take it out of service. The business model is not like Uber, where a disruptive business can’t easily be fought. If a council gives itself the power to clean up the streets without purporting to permanently confiscate the scooters, I suspect that that will do sufficient damage to the business model that will mean they cannot thrive where they are not wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/7 "2018-12-29T08:45:04Z")
To add to my above post, today the GCCC made good on its threat, and Lime has suspended operations. I should also add that hospital emergency departments are pushing back against the scooters, pointing to a very significant rate of scooter injuries coming through the front door. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escooter-lime-bird-rants/826855/8 "2018-12-29T16:44:26Z")
They are all over the People’s Republic of Portland. I’m pretty fine with them, I guess. I hate the proliferation of more electronic toys with heavy metal batteries, and it’s a little annoying sometimes to see them left randomly on sidewalks. But like the bike share we have, I quite appreciate anything that increases non automobile options and makes neighborhoods more “walkable.” And, of course, anything that’s not an automobile, or specifically tailored for automobiles, will piss off a certain population in this area. I enjoy that part too.