Scooters: What Does This Mean for People That Ride Bikes?

Dear Seasoned Chicago Cyclists,
Please try to impart the patience and compassion you would have for a first time bike commuter. Having experienced the roll out in DC and already had one scooter fatality, there's definitely a concern about safety. Basically, scooter users will likely be pedestrians (not cyclists) turned scooter riders so they won't know the ins and outs like a seasoned cyclist. Think first time Divvy user. So yes, you'll see them on the sidewalks (even though they aren't supposed to), bike lanes, and streets. Lots of patience will be necessary. While scooters can be a good addition to the non-car commuter, they do pose risks to themselves (mostly) and other vulnerable users of the roads.

Here's an article with the details of the scooter roll-out:

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2019/06/11/ready-or-not-10-different-sc...

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Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on June 18, 2019 at 11:04am

Scooters are nothing but toys for the kids out of school here in UKR.V.! Today they have everyone of them rented out (can't find any) for the young kids/teens going around the hood having an insane fun time with 'em. A few crashed down right ahead of me in the street, scuffed but uninjured.

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Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on June 19, 2019 at 11:16am

Ok, but how is this different from the pick-up truck on my corner that only gets moved for street sweeping? Both lame, but only this tiny scooter has the whole city freaking out... We devote like a quarter of our road space to parking and everyone’s upset about this?

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Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on June 14, 2019 at 11:39am

I ride a Divvy, so I'm alresdy used to being the slowest f-ck on the road. Being passed by a faster vehicle in the bike lane is par for the course. I have a helmet mounted mirror, so I'm already used to looking behind me regularly. As long as the scooter riders aren't total a--wipes, I'm cool with it.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Warland on June 17, 2019 at 7:06am

To me this looks like the appropriation of hard-won bicycle infrastructure by tech-bro capitalism.

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Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on June 17, 2019 at 7:16am

Ding-ding!

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on June 18, 2019 at 12:05pm

Maybe if enough of those more influential scooter people complain about our disconnected bicycle infrastructure, it can get some improvements.

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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on June 24, 2019 at 3:45am

Bingo.

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Permalink Reply by David P. on June 18, 2019 at 3:42am

https://twitter.com/ChicagoFails

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on June 18, 2019 at 8:45am

I haven't seen any so far this week. But then my route is the lake front trail and it's kind of foggy lately.

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Permalink Reply by dav on June 18, 2019 at 11:21pm

There were 11 (!) of them outside the building I work at around 10:30am yesterday. I work on the near west side. I'm thinking of starting a race around the block one day next week.