Denver residents declare scooters a 'menace'

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By David Heitz / NewsBreak Denver

(Denver, Colo.) Denver City Councilmember Chris Hinds admits his survey about scooters lacked nuance.

Hinds, who represents council district 10, surveyed constituents online and asked them whether they think scooters are a "menace." Of 1,300 respondents, 59 percent agreed scooters are a nuisance.

Hinds considers scooters speeding on sidewalks a policy issue. He believes the city needs to act because scooters caused numerous crashes with pedestrians and people in wheelchairs.

He said that one scooter even crashed into a Denver business's outdoor display and damaged $11,000 worth of merchandise. Because the rider was illegally riding on the sidewalk, scooter company Lime would not compensate the business for the loss, Hinds said.

Riding scooters on sidewalk prohibited

The city already has laws in place to address some scooter issues. For example, riding a scooter on a sidewalk is forbidden.

But Hinds said the laws don't mean anything if the city doesn't enforce them.

Hinds said that the city's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, or DOTI, is short-handed and doesn't make issuing citations a priority.

Hinds said issuing citations should be the responsibility of the police department. But the police department also is understaffed. He said DOTI and police currently are discussing "macro level solutions for all mobility options."

'The wild west' for scooters

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Hinds said the city plans to launch an education campaign on responsible scooter riding soon. He emphasized that he favors mobility options that get people out of cars.

"I just want to make sure that we have something that makes the most sense for our city," Hinds said during his Friday Facebook live stream last week. "Right now, it's the wild west for scooters, and the closer to downtown, the worse it is."

Lime, one of Denver's scooter providers, claims to have sidewalk detection technology that deters riders from using pedestrian spaces. But the company doesn't appear to use the technology in Denver.

Scooters dangerously quiet

One woman during the Facebook chat said she won't walk downtown because one collision with a scooter "would be catastrophic for me." She said she couldn't hear the electric scooters coming.

Pedestrians often dart out of a scooter's way just in time after the operator rings the faint bell on the device.

Scooters can be dangerous. From Jan. 1, 2021, to May 15, 2022, Denver Health treated 1,314 people for scooter injuries. While most scooter injuries occurred on roadways, the statistic includes people who fell off scooters at grocery stores.

Should shared streets become permanent?

More protected bicycle lanes in Capitol Hill could help alleviate the scooter-pedestrian problem. "Why not make shared streets permanent?" Hinds said many constituents ask.

Sometimes shared streets prove popular, other times not, he explained.

"Seventy seven percent said yes, we've got to do something that isn't what we're doing now," Hinds said of his survey.

Hinds said the Denver bus lobby and Denver Streets Partnership have agreed to help him brainstorm solutions to scooter-pedestrian dangers.