Austin Woman's Plea For Scooter Etiquette Gains Traction

AUSTIN, TEXAS — For those of us not inclined to hop onto an electric scooter to reach our destination, the two-wheeled contraptions — now ubiquitous in Austin with the entry of at least three providers — are something of a growing annoyance. Secured via an app, dock-less scooters can now be grabbed at random places where people leave them after use, usually on sidewalks.

We move around them as we walk on sidewalks. We stare at them in befuddlement to their sudden popularity. We see college kids, sometimes en masse, riding the things without the benefit of a helmet in case of a fall. Wheeeeeeee! we can almost hear these young people exclaiming — their opulent locks of hair flowing in the wind, unrestrained by pesky helmets — as they reach speeds of some 15 miles per hour not achievable by merely walking.

Side note: We've yet to see anyone wearing a helmet since scooter providers came to town with their stock a few months back. To a scooter maven, nobody we've seen on the things has been wearing a helmet, despite a couple of headline-grabbing mishaps leading to serious injury.

The scooters are here, and show no signs of going away anytime soon. They beckon us with hip and cool-sounding: GOAT, Lime, Bird, Pace. The price structure is just as accessible, some charging $1 for 30 minutes of use, others charging an initial $1 from the jump and 15 cents per minute thereafter.

But we grumpily digress.

Pedestrians are left to deal with the aftermath of this new disruptive technology transport as we walk around city streets, perhaps muttering curse words at the new obstruction. But for others, the scooters are a much bigger problem than mere annoyance.

In a Monday post on Facebook, Austin resident Emily Shryock illustrated her own experience encountering the scooters: "Another day in paradise," she began her post. "On my way to work this morning the sidewalks were blocked by Bird scooters in not one, but three places. Totally unacceptable!!"

Shryock's post has been shared more than 1,500 times and garnered more than 570 comments. The reason it's resonated: Emily is confined to a wheelchair, making negotiating around the contraptions that much more challenging.

She went on to explain how she called the city to report the errant scooters, while adding: "Folks need to realize not everyone has the privilege of being able to walk around these obstacles to continue on their way to work, school or play!"

Since Shyrock's post went — as the kids say — viral, the provider of the offending scooters took decsive action. According to reports, Bird officials reached out to apologize to her personally and implemented a "Bird Watchers Program" to ensure the two-wheeled vehicles are parked and picked up correctly.

Lately, astute observers of the urban landscape have noticed scooter reps in trucks picking up the contraptions in the evening and hauling them off to gosh knows where when left blocking sidewalks. This pickup task is likely in response to the growing howls of protest from residents unaccustomed to encountering the two-wheeled contraptions while walking along sidewalks.

But one can't swing a cat around these parts anymore without coming across them. We mean that figuratively, of course, and would never even think of swinging an actual cat. It's just a figure of speech.

The lesson to this somewhat stream-of-consciousness piece is to remind scooter users to be considerate. Have your fun, revel in the joy of having reached your destination more quickly than you would have on foot. But be empathetic to others, and leave scooters in a manner that is not obtrusive — particularly for those in wheelchairs who already have a difficult time just getting around.

For starters, maybe park them in a way that is parallel to sidewalks rather than perpendicular? Or on the curb, away from the sidewalk entirely maybe? We don't know who may have left this one we recently encountered along 30th Street, between Guadalupe and Rio Grande streets, but the way it's situated just conveys politeness. It seems to be saying: "I enjoyed my ride, but don't wish to obstruct your passage now that I've dismounted. I depart now on foot, with well wishes to you."

Here's what it looked like:

Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff

Conversely, check out the top image of the pair of scooters left outside a neighborhood pub parked smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk, customers be damned. Not the sort of thing one wants to encounter after a nice, refreshing pint of craft beer after a long day's work.

City officials — who were initially hesitant in allowing the nascent scooter industry to enter the market before acquiescing — urges residents to provide input on their own experiences with the contraptions. Its Dockless Mobility Community Survey portal has gotten some 5,000 responses since its launch.

So by all means, enjoy your scooters but be considerate of others. It'll make for a much more satisfying scooter ride. And be safe out there.

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>>> Top photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff