Bird, Lime, and Xiaomi face scooter sueball Scooter providers Bird and Lime, and scooter makers Segway and Xiaomi, face a lawsuit in Los Angeles, Calif., claiming that the two-wheeled tech toys are poorly manufactured and maintained. The complaint, which aspires to be certified as a class action, was filed earlier this month in a Los Angeles Superior Court by McGee, …
The problem(s) seem to be many with these things. They're really too small to drive in the street and be seen by motorists especially if they zip in and out of traffic. They're also too fast for sidewalk use where there's heavy foot traffic. Both drivers and pedestrians do dumb things like suddenly stop or vehicles suddenly change lanes.
Do they require the "driver" to have a driver's license? Or a license with a motorcycle validation? If not, they should.
While it's commendable that they think it's good for the environment, there's just too many unanswered questions. The cities are also at fault to some degree as they don't really have dedicated lanes for bicycles much less these things.
Here in Santa Monica they’re supposed to require a drivers license to rent and they’re supposed to be used only on the streets. So why did this 12 year old kid almost run me over on the sidewalk ? Millennials leave these things all over the place like trash when they’re done and so do the stoner kids who run up their parents electricity bills charging the scooters at night. These things are environmentally friendly, they’re mostly replacing walking with something that requires an electric charge from power plants that largely rely on fossil fuels.
I had *some* sympathy for the scooter companies - until they used whatabouterism as a defence.
We're not talking about cars, we're talking about quality and users not behaving safely (which, by the way, is not a new thing, I can't tell you how many cyclists cycle past the "no cycling" signs on the sea promenade where I live).
If you have a valid argument, let's here it, but talking about cars means you're gearing up for a major line of BS and (in my view) have already lost the discussion.
As both Segway and Xiaomi make the devices for personal non-commercial use and provide instructions that the commercial operators are not following (inside storage and inspection before use), I do not see what blame should be attached to the manufacturers. Their inclusion in the lawsuit seems just to be a way to hopefully get a bigger payout than is justified.
Blaming the manufacturers in this case is like blaming the maker of a sailing dingy because it sunk when the idiot user tried using it in a grade 5 hurricane.
It's the MO of business these days, pass the liability and blame for everything onto the customer.
Luckily for them most customers are idiots and are happy to do this.
Scooters have two wheels, unlike 4 wheels vehicles if you fait to balance they will fall over. Hitting the ground (or immobile objects) at speed hurts. Hitting the ground (or immobile objects) at speed whilst not wering any protective equipment will very likely result in injury.
These basics seem beyond a lot of people brough up driving cars filled with airbags and electronic safety aids. Safey always being someone else's problem.
Most grocery stores have "Mart Carts" or similar electric (sit down) scooters for customers that have disabilities. These are more of a commercial grade device. They're meant to be continually used, recharged constantly, and have at least a few safety features such as a beeper that sounds when backing up, and the speed limited to a couple of MPH. They are also a bit more rugged and probably have some degree of weather resistance.
If cities are going to rent scooters, there needs to be a similar type of unit for rent. Perhaps one that can detect when being ridden on a sidewalk and slow to a walking pace, one with more safety features, and perhaps with lighting and/or reflective portions to make them visible to motorists.
But I have to say to the people that were injured by tripping over these--WTF? And are we also going to sue skateboard, rollerblade, and bicycle manufacturers because people are idiots and meet mishap without bothering to wear any safety gear?
But I have to say to the people that were injured by tripping over these--WTF?
No sympathy for phone zombies.
I suspect not a small few were staring into mobile phone screens whilst walking, and not paying any more than 30% attention to anything not on their tiny screen (and only 20% on anything not in their tiny minds I presume).
To join two threads on a recent visit to the US I saw at least two people paying more attention to their mobiles than anything else around them - while riding scooters. Its just a same that they appeared to be texting with one hand (fun watching a scooter being ridden hands free I suspect)
On a recent visit to the bus stop, I saw a fellow in a car pulling away while continuing to look down at his phone. At least the scooter + payload is going to be far lighter than a standard American car, and has a lower top speed.
In Washington, DC, the scooter riders don't seem to be that bad. Perhaps we don't have enough to make a difference. The scooters and dockless bikes do tend to end up where they shouldn't be, for days or weeks at a time.
Tiswaz "I suspect not a small few were staring into mobile phone screens whilst walking,"
No. They just get dumped in the middle of the sidewalk or not propped on their stand correctly so they fall into the street. The Uber ones (Jump?) are free up until next week iirc. So the usual freetard behaviour is to just ditch them where they run out of juice.
What an unfortunate pair of names, when combined I parsed it as something quite different:
The 'dockless' bikes are also not immune to this problem; oFo, Lime, and at least one other company have put their bikes in my local city, and It's not uncommon to see them just sitting off the side, knocked over, or seeing the local miscreants re-paint them. There was one dumped at my house (I live on a corner) one fine evening in my driveway; one of the handlebars was broken off (no mean feat), and the thing was just ditched. I've also seen one that has the wheels missing and is sitting in an alleyway.
The scooters have been showing up in my locality as well; I have a feeling the same thing will happen as with the bikes.
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