A new trend has seemed to have taken hold at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) – many Lime scooters have been purposely pushed over, damaged, put in inconvenient places such as trees and used to draw phallic symbols in the campus parking lots.
This trend comes as several comments voicing strong dislike for the scooters were posted onto an Instagram post made by The Lutrinae.
“Absolutely trash… with no rules or regulations you kids rip around town leaving these everywhere and follow none of the rules on the road or recreational trail,” commented one account by the name of greenpedalcouriers831 on a Jan. 24 post that advertised an earlier Lutrinae story about the return of the lime scooters.
This initial comment created a chain reaction of others chiming in their dislike for the scooters. The account livelovehikenow responded to greenpedalcouriers831 with “agreed … they are making the entire student body (which doesn’t use them) look like kids! I have been almost ran over several times! I walk slow on campus because I just had hip surgery. No helmets! No rules! No enforcement! I have seen campus police do nothing to help.”
Another student account by the name of sirenita_pau also commented saying that “[she has] been trying to recover from an injury on them … three months after and her ligaments [can’t] heal.” This comment highlights the reason many students have become less than fond of the rentable scooters scattered around campus – if you have not been injured yourself on them, it is likely you know someone who has.
It is not unusual to see once neatly-parked lines of available scooters purposely toppled over by students who see them as a nuisance, or even a safety hazard. Walking across campus, you may see them thrown into garden beds, pushed over into the grass, or, in one case, even up in a tree.
Some have even taken to purposely damaging the scooters, though whether this is for fun or out of frustration, is unclear. A few weeks ago, I went to start a Lime scooter, and only after the app accepted my payment did I realize the rubber part of the tire was completely gone. I reported the scooter as damaged using the report feature on the app, but received no refund.
People have also been using the tires to draw on the pavement in Lot 71 and other lots around campus. Often by the pods of (usually toppled) Lime scooters, you can find phallic shapes and other images rubbed onto the pavement using the scooter tires.
Despite the newly-voiced opposition, it seems the Lime scooters are here to stay, at least for now. If you do choose to ride a Lime scooter, you can keep yourself and others safe by being aware of your surroundings, not speeding (especially in the rain, as you can fishtail) and not riding close to pedestrians. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of the scooters, don’t damage them! Though they may be frustrating to you, they still are not your property to damage.