Kade1301 wrote:Bird specifically demand of their clients that the scooters be parked legally and on their kickstand - not just abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk.
And it's a condition of use that ought rightly to be there. But it strikes me as
pro forma. Does this condition impose a penalty for not complying? They could, because they have the user's credit info, and there's no doubt that every unit is individually identified and therefore tied to the user's time with it; after all, Bird says they will hold the user liable for damage or theft, so if that's not just a bunch of hot air, it would mean they could certainly apply penalties for bad parking too. But looking at the user agreement, I find no mention of enforcement, so I see it as nothing but empty talk. I can say, though, that Bird does a darned good job otherwise at covering its own backside as to where its responsibilities
don't lie. It's pretty hard to miss. As far as the city goes, I don't know how or even if this issue is met in any way in its ordinances. I'll have to check later; busy day in the 3D ahead, and I have to log out soon.
Kade1301 wrote:So if scooter users (who, after all, are part of the community) don't comply but prefer to "litter" - isn't there a problem with the community? Maybe the people who use scooters need to be a bit more "civically responsible"?
Sure. Absolutely. I heartily agree. But telling them so won't get you anything but pained expressions and dismissal for being a grind. You know as well as I that in most cultures, the individual and the community (here my meaning is closer to "mob") are two very different entities. Because it appears to absolve the individual of a lot of responsibility, free range rental implies to the individual that s/he is more or less anonymous, and real or imagined anonymity encourages something akin to mob mentality ("Everyone else is doing it..."). It's inevitable, and it should be no surprise that careless use would follow from there. Of course the degree will depend on the culture, but it'll always surface in some way, even in the most straitlaced societies. If I had a nickle for every time someone boasted about what they got away with... The way I see it, free range means you're no longer just getting away with something: it goes further by institutionalizing carelessness.
Although not by intent on paper, it's still the nature of the beast; the free range model legitimizes for the user the thoughtless misuse of freedom. Of course not everyone behaves that way. But I think it's the crux of the issue, since you can't cherry-pick human psychology in the course of the equation.
No matter how correct a call for behavioral improvements among a particular group or its members may be, it's functionally irrelevant to what's immediate when timely solutions are needed. You only have what you've got to work with there and then, and in the meantime, evolution must hopefully come when it will.
Anyway, I'll be back in a few hours...
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician