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Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

theguardian.com

41–50 of 97 posts

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#41
post #27

Anyone have a recording of the audio played? A quick cruise to YouTube came up empty, though perhaps your search terms will be better than mine.

Found someone uploaded it to YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsW4kIg4PQc

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#42
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because you don't view the police as a dangerous occupying force in your community.

I view the police as dangerous but recognize their danger as a necessary cost for effectiveness. I'm afraid of the police, but I'm more afraid of no police.

This is a very US centric view of policing.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#43
Scooters are litter?

Are parked cars litter? What about when a restaurants put a chair or table outside on the sidewalk?

Maybe a closer analogy is the other kind of electric scooter (as in the mopeds like Scoot). Never heard them called litter. So is being on the sidewalk vs the street what determines if it's litter?

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#44
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because you don't view the police as a dangerous occupying force in your community.

I view the police as dangerous but recognize their danger as a necessary cost for effectiveness. I'm afraid of the police, but I'm more afraid of no police.

I'm equally afraid of no police, and calling the police. Figure that out.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#45
post #11
post #3

I don't really see the racism slant the article is trying to paint all over this stupidity.

That's because you don't view the police as a dangerous occupying force in your community.

I don't think anyone in San Francisco does, either.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#46
post #7

This is litter and vandalism. Why aren't people calling the police/city to remove this junk from the streets, and fine the owners for illegal dumping?

No it isn't. We give free space to cars, trucks and bicycles. Why not scooters? Is it because they are owned by a corporation? If so should rental cars and car shares be banned?

Typically individual people are limited to ~1 free car and bike space, and many cities treat commercial vehicles differently from privately owned ones. If you park your ten cars on the street, or if you park your ten cars on the street and start a car rental company, or if you park your commercial-plates delivery truck on the street overnight, you will quickly run into conflict with your city government. Rental cars and e.g. Zipcars have their own dedicated parking spaces, usually on private property, and docked bike rental companies rent curb space from the city.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#47

Scooters are litter? Are parked cars litter? What about when a restaurants put a chair or table outside on the sidewalk? Maybe a closer analogy is the other kind of electric scooter (as in the mopeds like Scoot). Never heard them called litter. So is being on the sidewalk vs the street what determines if it's litter?

Imagine if a company like uber bought thousands of smart cars. Parked them on all the streets. And said there ya go, now you can rent me! Meanwhile people who normally parked on the streets couldn't because these short lease cars were there. I would say that's littering.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#48
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An actual thief is probably going to laugh and roll their eyes at the idea that the police will respond to an automated 911 call from a scooter left on the sidewalk.

Isn't it the case, in SF, that police do not even respond to actual automobile break-ins when their very owners call to request police aid? If a smashed window + stolen laptop (total loss: ~$2,500) can't convince the SF police to lift a finger, I doubt a scooter (~$400) will. Sad situation all around.

I agree, they would never respond to such a call. Moreover if it actually flooded the dispatch with calls they would probably be in big trouble. I am sure it is an empty threat.

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#49
post #7

This is litter and vandalism. Why aren't people calling the police/city to remove this junk from the streets, and fine the owners for illegal dumping?

> Why aren't people calling the police/city to remove this junk from the streets

This is the Oakland police we are talking about here, who are recently coming off a number of major controversies including child sex trafficking. Getting them to show up for a robbery is a challenge. 0% chance they show up for dumping calls (there is a dumping spot a few blocks from our apartment people have been trying to get OPD to watch for months, to no avail).

Re: Scooters littering US city streets alarm: 'Unlock me or I'll call the police'

#50
post #7

This is litter and vandalism. Why aren't people calling the police/city to remove this junk from the streets, and fine the owners for illegal dumping?

There seems to be no problem, however, with devoting a majority of most city streets to the abandoning of unoccupied passenger vehicles, and littering the sidewalks with signage of instructions to motorists regarding the lawful abandonment of their vehicles. That is more offensive than pay-to-unlock scooters on the sidewalk and should be addressed first.

>There seems to be no problem, however, with devoting a majority of most city streets to the abandoning of unoccupied passenger vehicles, and littering the sidewalks with signage of instructions to motorists regarding the lawful abandonment of their vehicles. That is more offensive than pay-to-unlock scooters on the sidewalk and should be addressed first.

This is a nonsensical, straw man argument that is propped up over and over in these threads. I pay taxes and registration fees to the state every year for the privilege of using public roads (and parking on them). I pay the city for parking. I pay CDOT to use the bridge. We have laws regarding the proper and improper usage of motor vehicles, with appropriate law enforcement to implement those rules.

None of this exists with these scooters. It's just another bullshit VC play at making money off arbitraging public safety and wellbeing in an environment they don't have to deal with. The hubris has become absolutely disgusting.

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