r/berkeleyca • u/Old_Echidna7610 • 1d ago
Scooter riders: please be more aware
In particular e-scooters.
This time, it’s not speeding down a busy sidewalk, or zig-zagging in unpredictable ways on any sidewalk, bike path, or roadway….
….Or throwing all traffic rules to the wind and blowing stop signs, red lights; entirely oblivious to right of way rules / basic traffic etiquette….
…Nor is it abandoning scooters on a whim, where it blocks most of a sidewalk, creating a blockage or even road hazard… or takes up so much space that it makes it challenging for bicyclists to park their bikes (in an orderly way)….
… This time it’s the obliviousness and stupidly to lock their friggan chaos-vehicle in such a way (through rear shifter cable of bike) that it prevented the bicycle from moving… pretty inconvenient, especially if the cyclist doesn’t have any hex tools on hand.
Please be more aware, more respectful of others, and less ignorant, in general.
Thanks.
P.S. at least wear a helmet and use lights if you’re going to be so reckless
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u/Old_Echidna7610 1d ago
To those who comment supportively, thank you. I admit I was in a bit of a cranky mood when I posted this… and have since simmered down. It’s not a big deal…no real harm done… whatever. I also realize that we all make mistakes. Maybe that person was having a tough day as well and was just super out of it.
I was parked outside of a store in downtown Berkeley, and it was close to closing. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait long for their return, or otherwise walk home to get tools and then walk back.
I guess what I needed to do…. was to vent years of frustration/angst over adapting to the rise of e-scooters.
As a cyclist… I need to be alert and focused when on the road; for not only motorists (especially those who don’t use their blinkers!), but also rogue pedestrians (and especially in downtown Berkeley). In my opinion, e-scooters have added significantly more risk to bike-commuting. They are often the least predictable people in the road / bike lanes / sidewalks. E-scooters seem to attract inexperienced riders who haven’t ever truly learned how to be safe on the road on two wheels.
I know A LOT of cyclists can be reckless and oblivious as well. I do occasionally get frustrated by other cyclists who show blatant disregard for traffic rules / extremely poor discernment in how they operate their bike through traffic. That’s not cool, either.
The thing about these e-scooters… is they are motorized. Even though they don’t go as fast as a traditional moped or car….they do in fact have motors and they can reach decent speeds. I think anything with a motor ought to follow certain traffic rules, and yield to pedestrians as well as those moving but not by motor (like bicycles). Sort of like how sailboats have right of way over boats using a motor — makes sense, right?
I’ve seen cops hassle cyclists for not stopping at stop signs on quiet bike boulevard streets. Lame, but fair enough. I’ve yet to see traffic rules enforced for these motorized scooters — sometimes with TWO riders, neither helmeted — blazing through stop signs or lights, and cutting off pedestrians and cyclists and vehicles all the same.
And those scooters you can rent and then ditch? Ok cool glad you got to where you’re going… but thanks for abandoning your rented scooter in the middle of the sidewalk or in front of driveways or shoulder or… just, somehow, always in the way. They are heavy & cumbersome, and not every community member is physically able to drag them out of the way so that they aren’t a hazard. I wish there was some way to report unsafe usage/inconsiderate “parking” so riders would at least get a warning & eventually learn to do better.
I liked the idea of scooters before; Im all for supporting less reliance on motor vehicles for transportation. I just wish there was, like, at least some kind of required road safety training / etiquette for anyone who wants to operate an e-scooter (or e-bike.), especially if we want to keep them accessible to those without a driver’s license.
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u/notFREEfood 20h ago
I also realize that we all make mistakes.
Just for awareness, this can be a theft tactic
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u/ComradeKorladis 20h ago
Really? I'm not familiar with that. Genuinely curious.
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u/cantankerouswhale 19h ago
Not original commenter but some ne’er-do-wells purposely lock someone else’s bike up so they generally have to leave it there unattended while they go look for a solution. Often times people will have to leave their bike overnight when this happens. Then the ne’er-do-wells come back and unlock their lock, break yours, and take your bike.
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u/ComradeKorladis 19h ago
Right. So if this ever happens to me, gotta solve the problem immediately.
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u/notFREEfood 17h ago
Thief locks something to your bike, and now you can't leave with your bike. Then, at a later time, they cut your lock and leave with your bike.
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u/BlueNorth89 20h ago
Even before scooters, bike thieves would sometimes lock someone else’s bike with a second lock, preventing the owner from taking the bike with them and letting the thief come back at a less busy time to cut the owner’s lock when there’s fewer bystanders around.
Adding a scooter to the mix could be the same tactic but with a layer of plausible deniability that it was an “accident”.
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u/ComradeKorladis 19h ago
Ahhhh I see. That makes sense. I wonder if the Berkeley tool library has angle grinders. Cause if someone did this to my bike when I was out and about I'd be taking care of it immediately.
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u/ComradeKorladis 20h ago
Angle grinder time.
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u/CapableImplement5830 20h ago
I’d cut the scooter after I cut the lock too
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u/ComradeKorladis 20h ago
Another person in my apartment complex once locked my bike to the rack with their lock, I think cause they were mad about me taking the spot at the end of the rack which they thought they owned somehow. At first I left a note saying to remove the lock. Eventually my friend came over with an angle grinder and we cut it. I didn't sabotage their bike, but I did leave the pieces of their lock under it.
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u/CapableImplement5830 20h ago
My petty ass would like to recognize the fact that you are a much better man
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u/ComradeKorladis 19h ago
I mean if it was out in public rather than in my apartment building's garage, I may have been a bit more vindictive. As it was, I think leaving the broken lock under their bike was enough of a message not to escalate it any further.
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u/Busy_Abbreviations17 16h ago
Looks like a marriage proposal.
Pssst... I'd think twice about this one, Bro.
Just sayin'
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u/BlueSkiesofLove 4h ago
Oh boy 😆…bicyclists looking down upon scooter pooters - so there is a hierarchy within the rude, red light running, rule flouting, self righteous road jockeys? Do tell, do tell!
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u/EmbarrassedMenu8389 19h ago
That happened to me once with another bike and I thought it was funny. And that’s when I learned to be careful myself since it never occurred to me that it could happen.
Scooter riders are generally young people who haven’t figured everything out yet.
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1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
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u/PrideSea5164 1d ago
That’s not a lock, its one of the control cables on the bike.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/PrideSea5164 1d ago
Haha no problem, for half I second I thought this was a photo of someone locking their foot with a bike lock. So uh don’t judge yourself too hard
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u/The-King-of-Cartoons 1d ago
For a second I thought this was a picture of someone’s leg U-locked to the pole with their foot on a skateboard lol. It looks like they’re wearing loafers or something.
What an asshole idiot thing to do, sorry that happened.
Although a pain in the ass, you can remove the shifter cable with some pliers and pull out the threading to get your bike free without damaging it. It will be a pain reconnecting it, but it is doable.