I caught one of those motherfuckers who needlessly park shared e-scooters in bicycle racks. He seemed to be taking a picture of his sabotage of the space cyclists need to lock their bicycle to.
Why is this plague of Google-boot-licking shared e-scooter people attacking our bicycle racks (I have been wondering)?
There are laws banning those scooters from blocking sidewalks and doorways. I assume the e-scooter company would get the fine for illegal parking, which they would need to pass on. So (I’m guessing) users photograph their parking job for self-defense from a fine. Is that correct?
Are they just keeping a personal copy of those photos, or does the app require users to transmit the photos? If they are being transmitted, does that mean the e-scooter companies are complicit in a limited resource (bicycle racks) getting clusterfucked?
What is the recourse for individual action? Ideas:
- stack the scooters in a pile in the bushes whenever the racks are fully packed by shared scooters.
- put stickers with a red prohibited sign over a scooter on the racks. But of course the problem with that is that it’s fair enough if a personal scooter is locked to a rack. And also unlocked/shared bicycles are the same problem. What is a graphical symbol that represents shared micromobiles but not personal ones? We could list them out (Lime, Bolt, etc) but there are too many and they keep changing. Would an e-scooter with a wi-fi symbol be clear?
- lock the shared vehicles to the racks where they sit. It’s sacraficial, but sends a msg that costs them money (thus a msg that will not be ignored). Not cheap for the activist.
- pile the shared machines together and lock them together, perhaps using the built-in lock from one of the shared e-bikes.