Bird Sues City Of Beverly Hills Over Motorized Scooter Ban

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Bird, the scooter sharing company, is suing the City of Beverly Hills over the city council's temporary ban on e-scooters, which resulted in impounding more than 1,000 of the company's vehicles.

Bird filed the lawsuit Nov. 1, and claims the city’s ban is unlawful as it was decided in a “hasty and deceptive proceeding riddled with violations of California’s open-meeting, public participation, and environmental laws,” according to Business Insider.

The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, and is the first time the scooter company has attempted to use the legal system to overturn a city's scooter ban, the Los Angeles Times reported. This could affect the way the scooters operate and interact with local governments everywhere.

At a special meeting in July, council members said they were furious at how scooter companies had launched in cities without warning, Business Insider reported.

"We need to make this as difficult and as punitive as we can," Mayor Julian Gold said at the meeting, the business website reported.

Cities like Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Long Beach have approved pilot programs, requiring the scooter companies to follow certain laws and share some data with city officials in exchange for permits that allow a set number of scooters, Los Angeles Times reported. Although, this route has made business a little more complicated, Bird’s chief legal officer David Estrada told the newspaper. Residents don't think about the city boundaries when they move around the region, he said.

The scooter company alleges it's been "irreparably harmed" by the city's "unlawful actions," and is requesting in the lawsuit that the court awards Bird damages, reimbursement for impound fees and costs of the lawsuit, Business Insider reported. A hearing is set for February.

"The actions taken by the City of Beverly Hills are at odds with California's goals of being a global climate leader," Bird said in a press release. "The City's ban on e-scooters is unlawful and preempted by the California Vehicle Code, which grants operators of motorized scooters the same rights and privileges as operators of other motor vehicles, and explicitly promotes adoption of emissions-free motorized scooters."

Image via Shutterstock