Lime and Bird came into our city and did not have a great business plan to introduce the scooters with specific rules that would embrace the rider. The riders saw they could just grab the scooter and go and when they were done they could just leave it anywhere.
Last week Mayor Sepi Shyne, Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and Councilmember Chelsea Byers voted to continue to allow the electric scooters to remain in our city. If you do not know about the controversy, it stemmed from residents — many who were seniors and handicapped — feeling that it was a hazard.
During the council meeting, seniors and the handicapped spoke during comments along with other residents about the dangers of the scooters blocking the right of way on our sidewalks. If you have walked any of our sidewalks in the past several years, the Bird and Lime scooters have been left anywhere causing many problems.
The other hazard is the speed at which the scooters are traveling on the sidewalk from behind or in front of someone walking. This in addition to the illegal bike riders, skateboarders and now the robot delivery machines, and it’s a wonder more residents have not been injured.
During the past year, there have been injuries including Councilmember Lauren Meister’s sister having broken bones caused by a scooter rider who ran a red light.
I remember in the 1990s when my mom had a stroke which left her handicapped, and she needed a cane and then a walker and eventually a wheelchair.
When we went about West Hollywood, I could see first-hand the problems of going down the sidewalks when it was just bikes or skateboarders. I could not imagine trying to maneuver the pitfalls today with scooters, electric bikes, robot deliveries, skateboarders and bikes.
The convenience of the scooters for many younger people is what is the most attractive. But how do the scooter companies retrain, educate and enforce the scooters being abandoned just anywhere on the sidewalks by riders.
Lime and Bird came into our city and did not have a great business plan to introduce the scooters with specific rules that would embrace the rider. The riders saw they could just grab the scooter and go and when they were done they could just leave it anywhere. This was one of the main problems, the other being the illegal riding on the sidewalks.
Some also say the under-the-age of 18 riders, the no require helmets, and the riders who ride two to a scooter just add to the mayhem.
It is a new era in which the scooter companies made many promises at our recent council meetings, and now it is wait and see.
Councilmembers John Heilman and Lauren Meister said they believed the scooters pilot program was a failure on many levels. Other residents agreed and a larger majority of speakers at our meeting disagreed.
But where does this leave anyone who wants a clear path to just be able to use our sidewalks for walking? The scooters do not have a bicycle bell to even alert someone that they are nearby or behind someone. Simple fixes may help but the real-life problems will continue to exist.
The scooters are seen as cheap transportation progress against the residents who just want to walk our sidewalks in peace.
Jerome Cleary is a longtime West Hollywood resident and business owner. He can be contacted at JeromeCleary@aol.com
