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Riders of app-rented e-scooters and bicycles may soon see tighter regulations and stiffer penalties after the Los Angeles City Council recently called for tighter regulations of such dockless vehicles, which are owned by private companies, but stored and operated on public property.
The council action comes on the heels of a June report on scooter usage in the city from the Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation (LADOT). According to the agency, the Los Angeles Fire Dept. (LAFD) responded to 160 emergency calls involving scooter accidents during the first five months of 2019, 59 of which required an ambulance.
The Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD) also reported 52 traffic collisions involving dockless vehicles in the same time period, according the report.
The city currently requires dockless riders to be at least 18 years old and have a driver’s license. Riding on sidewalks, carrying additional passengers and exceeding 15 miles per hour are prohibited.
Additionally, some have voiced concern that devices improperly parked in pedestrian paths and traffic lanes create safety risks. Others bemoan scooters left on private property, including in front yards of homes.
“I’ve seen or experienced violations of the entire spectrum of prohibitions set out in the rules and guidelines,” said local resident Mark Steinberg in a letter to City Council. “I’ve seen scores of illegally parked and illegally operated scooters.”
You’ve seen them, you might have ridden them and possibly even been endangered by them. Carl recently reported on attempts by Los Angeles City Council to bring a sense of order to the bonanza of app-rented electric scooters which have been lauded as the future of affordable transportation by the companies that own and operate them.
Carl Robinette 
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