Detroit honeymoon is over for Bird scooters, lime hire

The number of incidents seems to have increased since a second scooter company, Lime, deployed its own fleet to Detroit in late August, bringing the total number of scooters in the city between 500 and 600. This number fluctuates daily, depending on the number of birds. or "Limes" are under maintenance or have been vandalized.

The bad parking tag of some cyclists who leave their scooters on the pedestrian crossing or in places where they rock easily is more and more irritating. And others do not even bother to park their scooters and drop them on the ground.

"They leave them mainly where they want, where they want to put them," said Michael Brown, valet attendant, who is now busy reorganizing the scooters placed in front of the Ford building in Griswold, in the center of town. -city. they too in the middle of the sidewalk. "

Until now, there is no widespread reaction in Detroit against scooters. City residents, workers and weekend visitors who try them generally say they have fun. Some people have fully adopted scooters and use them every day to get to work or just to get around.

A third scooter company, Spin, is about to launch in Detroit within a month. We still do not know when companies are planning to put away their scooters for the winter. Bird Rides recently launched a more robust scooter – the Bird Zero – which could have better handling on ice and snow.

Yet in Detroit, feelings about scooters are more mixed than when birds and limes arrived on the street. The question remains whether security constraints and problems will lead to a tightening of municipal regulations, particularly with regard to the rule that allows scooters on sidewalks, provided that they have "a low risk of disturbance "for pedestrians, who always have priority.

Some cities, including Ann Arbor and Columbus, Ohio, have completely banned sidewalk scooters.

Avoidance

Detroit resident and downtown worker Corey Greenleaf, 41, said he was now extremely vigilant when he walked into downtown after being the victim of some near-misses scooters pulled by him on the sidewalk.

The maximum speed allowed for scooters in Detroit is 15 mph. Some unverified claims indicate that some scooters can go faster.

"Whenever I walk, I first turn my head to see if they arrive because they are just zooming in without any care, and it's frustrating," Greenleaf said. To stay out of the way of the scooters, "I stay far left or far right."

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On Wednesday, October 10, 2018, many scooters are parked in the downtown area, outside the Chase Tower, in downtown Detroit. (Photo: Marc Daalder, Detroit Free Press)

Real collisions

There was a collision between a scooter and a pedestrian Wednesday, near Campus Martius Park, in the city center. The collision was hard enough to throw both people to the ground, although neither the cyclist nor the pedestrian reported injuries requiring medical attention.

A private security guard told the Free Press that she saw a woman driving a scooter on the sidewalk in front of the food truck area when, at about 11:45, her scooter hit a man who was walking. The two individuals fell on the sidewalk, said security guard Liberty, who would only give his name, Officer Hill.

"Out of nowhere, before I could say anything, she was already on him, hit him and he fell," Hill said. "She fell down with him, so obviously (she) did not just hit her … she was trying to apologize, he accepted, but he was pretty cute."

City officials said they had not yet received any complaints about the new rental scooters.

The Detroit Police Department did not respond to this week's requests for comments and information on scooter incidents.

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There are no specific figures for scooter injuries. Doctors and staff at the Detroit Medical Center reported seeing some patients injured because of their scooters, but their injuries are only considered scooter injuries if they were traumatic, according to a spokesman for DMC.

Most people who fall off a scooter do not report their injuries.

Zach Almayali, 21, from Detroit, who rides a bird or lime almost daily, said that he had already been thrown from a scooter when he had struck a nest-in -hen. He suffered no sprain or fracture, so he got up and continued to roll.

During street interviews this week, several scooter drivers and non-competitors said they witnessed near-collisions between scooters and cars. These close calls usually involved reckless scooter drivers in their teens or early twenties.

"Some are just not looking where they are going," said Greenleaf. "I saw someone almost dropping in a bus the other day." They were driving through the Rosa Parks Transportation Center and the bus turned around and they turned back in front of the bus. "

Lost birds, fallen limes

The Free Press has spotted many scooters this week that have been left on walking trails along sidewalks or on the ground. The rear wheel of a fallen scooter has even found itself in the outdoor patio of Woodward's upscale Townhouse restaurant.

Corey Mitchel, 38, of Harper Woods had to sail around two Lime scooters side by side on the floor, next to the old Wayne County building.

"It's crazy, they throw it all," he said. "Yesterday, I come out of the break, a scooter is sitting right in front of my door, lying flat, I just walked on it."

The popularity of scooters may be reducing the number of MoGo rental bikes, which, unlike Birds and Limes, must be recovered and returned to the docking stations. Scooters can be installed and parked almost anywhere.

Chris Rogers, 27, of Taylor, said that since the arrival of the scooters, he was no longer using MoGos when he was visiting or working downtown.

"It's better than motorcycles," he said. "With MoGo, you have to go to a certain place. You may have to walk a few streets, maybe half a mile. But scooters, you can stop, drop off and simply take care of your business. "

In a statement, MoGo Executive Director Lisa Nuszkowski said that the total number of MoGo runners was continuing to increase and that there would soon be 44 bike stations in Detroit and, by next spring, , 30 additional MoGo stations at Berkley, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Oak Park and Royal Oak.

"We believe that the city and region need more mobility options and that there is room for multiple modes in our growing transportation ecosystem," Nuszkowski said.

Scooter companies pay money for people who find and recharge low-battery scooters overnight. Bird has recently reduced its standard reload payment to Detroit from $ 5 to $ 3, although the maximum payout for hard-to-find scooters remains $ 20.

A lime representative did not respond to a request for comment for this article.