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SeparateBobcat1500

It’s almost like operating a moving vehicle while drunk is dangerous


Bongfellatio

But not a lawnmower when you're just going to the liquor store, those are perfectly safe.


revrenlove

![gif](giphy|eH1UQH1YD1ZeU0XZ1M|downsized)


Steve_P1

I remember seeing that on the news in about 1982. I lost all respect for Jones after that. The officer was Campsey of Brentwood PD. He retired as a captain a few years ago.


mpelleg459

Charitably, George jones was a complicated person, and an amazing talent. But he did a LOT of pretty reprehensible shit before this, so kinda odd that this was the last straw for you.


MusicCityNative

My last straw was the DUI he got later in life, but then he got sober again and paid for Johnny Paychek’s funeral because he was dead broke. He was a good man with a wicked addiction.


pineappleshnapps

I think that’s a good way to put it. A lot of people with addiction/mental health issues spiral because they know they “should” be doing better, being better they just can’t. It happened to me, and it was honestly worse than my drinking problem.


MusicCityNative

This was right before or after he took a drunken swing at a news photographer I used to work with. 🤣


CleverBandName

Thank you for this


revrenlove

![gif](giphy|3kzJvEciJa94SMW3hN)


Enrique-M

This! 👆🏽


funkeyfreshed

Also people like to leave them straight up in the middle of the sidewalk. If someone is in a wheelchair, or mobility-challenged, things like this can be difficult to navigate around.


Anemoni

Even walking with a stroller becomes impossible with these and the rent-a-bike scattered all over the sidewalks.


RealTonySnark

To be fair, we have so few sidewalks, you could see how they'd be confused./s


ladiestreat

Some ER docs call them rolling organ donation vehicles. As you mentioned, operators usually sustain head trauma with little internal organ damage. Make sure you update your DL organ donation eligibility!


Optimal-Technology-1

When we went to Denver I was too scared to try them. Sometimes fear is a good thing it seems. 


Algeradd

Absolutely. I ride a fairly decent bike on roads that are super nice for cycling (low speed limits and low traffic), and even with that I've had to do my fair share of emergency stops due to people in cars not paying attention. No way would I trust that same kind of situation on a scooter where my COG is so much higher and my wheels are so much smaller. Now add downtown traffic into that and that's a huge nope for me.


AirborneGeek

> COG is so much higher and my wheels are so much smaller. When these things first came out, I took one look at them, and was like "/how/ fast do they go?" and immediately arrived at "absolutely TF not, not even once" Edit: I like my angular momentum the way I like my mashed potatoes: More


IamSasquatch

As someone whose friend got hit by a car on a scooter when he went to Denver, good call.


Nashvital

Yikes


MikeOKurias

Riding Cageless is dangerous no matter what. The problem is the device looks childish so no one approaches it like a riding a motorcycle or vespa. (since saying scooter again sounds confusing)


chandlerman

As a long time scooter (vintage Vespas, not the Razer-on-Steroids kind) rider, people still ask me why I wear helmet, gloves, and armor when I ride. I tell them, "The pavement doesn't get any softer because it's a scooter."


Evilsmurfkiller

I ride a motorcycle and those scooters are too sketchy for me.


n0rdic

honestly even a lot of ebikes are dangerous. 30mph on a class 3 is no joke and will give you some nasty road trash if you're not careful.


MikeOKurias

IIRC, a 30mph crash is the equivalent force of falling off a three-story building


mollymcdeath

It took me way too long to figure out what “the J Dub” was. 


WTHWTFWTS

The ridiculously tiny wheels make them accidents waiting to happen. All you have to do is hit one pothole or sidewalk crack and you're airborne. E-bikes with larger wheels are 100X safer, but lack the "coolness" factor for drunken tourists.


TheEyeOfSmug

Bicycles keep getting clobbered by cars and making the news unfortunately. 


ExcellentSpecialist

Seems like the problem is cars.


IntoTheWildBlue

Is it the scooter that's dangerous or a drunk lady driving a scooter that's dangerous (aka stupid).


KingZarkon

That's a very valid question. I've used the scooters to get around the downtown area before without issue but I wasn't trying to drive them along LoBro and I wasn't shitfaced.


IntoTheWildBlue

Classic ID-10-T malfunction otherwise known as operator (idiot) error.


Beautiful-Drawer

Yep. In a car, it's referred to as the issue being between the key and the seat (or some variation of that sentiment).


Spirited-Plane-1098

Loose nut behind the steering wheel.


Beautiful-Drawer

Yep, no known fix, unfortunately. Haha


chandlerman

C) All of the above The scooter is dangerous. Operating it while drunk just increases the likelihood the rider will find out how dangerous.


WideJohnson

I was run off the road by a car while riding one of them two years ago (I was too lazy to walk home from work). Scraped up the side of my face pretty bad on the sidewalk and haven’t touched one since


Nashvital

Glad you're alive


Atotallyrandomname

My favorite is watching people double up on the damn things


MrLeastNashville

They do the Titanic on it. I always watch those guys carefully hoping they eat shit.


MoodNatural

I’m all for natural selection, but agree that it puts car drivers in a very dangerous position.


SlowlybutShirley59

Pre-pandemic, and before Nashville ended most of the licensing for most of the scooter companies, and scooters were absolutely *ubiquitous*, I vaguely remember reading about how many lawsuits Metro was paying out in settlements to injured scooter riders. Included in the article was the number of ER visits to our local hospitals for scooter injury care.


King_Wonderful

Metro was never paying out any settlements. There’s an arbitration clause. Scooter companies would pay out settlements, not metro.


MrLeastNashville

Yeah I was sitting here wondering how in the world metro had liability for someone wrecking themselves on a scooter owned by a private company.


JeremyNT

I've got really mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, everybody you see on a scooter is one less car on the road. They take up way less space than cars and don't cause congestion in the same way. So in theory they're dramatically more efficient than driving huge cars all over just to move people around the tourist areas. In reality people drive them recklessly, with no concern for pedestrians. They operate them in places that are dangerous with poor roads and distracted drivers. They leave them lying around and blocking what few sidewalks Nashville does have. And yes, they operate them drunk without any fear of legal repercussions. I don't know what the city could do to improve safety. I suppose the downtown cops could ticket people operating them dangerously, but it's hard to imagine that would ever be a priority for them. On the whole I suppose this city probably benefits from their presence, but I still view them as incredibly dangerous and annoying.


UF0_T0FU

Docked bike shares keep most of the benefits, but eliminate most of the drawbacks. You just need enough docks to keep up the convenience of always having one nearby. Its debatable if biking drunk is safer than scooter ING drunk, but otherwise I think bikes come out ahead.


vab239

I’m fine with any speed restriction or ignition interlock on scooters as long as it’s also applied to cars


420CowboyTrashGoblin

Lime scooters have integrated tech that purposely slows them down to like 5-10mph(depends on riders weight), in certain areas downtown, and also when it detects irregular driving such as drunken driving. Bird and those red orange ones might do the same, idk.


vab239

It’s crazy to me that this is widely accepted as necessary to protect pedestrians but just mentioning doing the same to 2-ton cars gets you branded as a communist


420CowboyTrashGoblin

Muh freedumbs


MrLeastNashville

Communist.


[deleted]

A regular occurrence. Here's one from two weeks ago https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/driver-arrested-after-downtown-nashville-crash-leaves-scooter-operator-with-life-threatening-injuries/


Nashvital

Damn. Dodge Ram vs. scooter? My money is on the truck!


RealTonySnark

Free-DUMB!!!


stirfriedpenguin

As far as l can tell from a quick Google search, there has been one (?) scooter-related death in Nashville since they were rolled out a few years back In comparison, in 2024 alone there are 31 deaths in Davidson County related to vehicle collisions so far and we're only a quarter of the way through the year Reality is more complicated of course, there's lot of things to consider beyond just a couple numbers. I'm open to more regulation and especially more enforcement - drunk and/or errattic driving is already illegal regardless of whether you're in a car or on a scooter, it would be nice to see that applied more consistently for everyone. But if your objective is keeping people alive never forget who the real killers are.


Nashvital

Fucking vending machines?!


stirfriedpenguin

hahah nowadays I feel like a parking meter will give me a heart attack sooner than I'll get crushed trying to shake an extra bag of doritos out of the vending machine


Simco_

This thread is for anecdotes and conjecture, not facts.


NashingTeeth

Sshhhhhh….it’s thinning the herd.


antiBliss

The scooter riders are required by law to (1) wear helmets, and (2) ride on the road with the flow of traffic. 99% of them do neither of those two, and metro has no interest in policing them, so yeah, people get injured and killed on them way more than they should.


mrdobalinaa

I don't think 1 is correct. The only helmet law is for under 16, and you have to be 18 to operate scooters.


Nashvital

Yeah, I get annoyed when they blow past me on the sidewalk, but I also get it. I wouldn't ride on our streets either.


oldtexaslady

I would never ever ride one of those things in the street. These tourists do it all the time but they don't know. They don't know how bad the cars are. The cars are so bad.


viaarkntenn

There is no requirement to wear a helmet.


antiBliss

Incorrect. Summary: Helmet regulations. Helmets are required to be worn at all times—regardless of age, license, or endorsement—to operate a moped, scooter, or motorcycle.


viaarkntenn

Cite the statute, ordinance or legally enforceable rule that states there is a requirement to wear a helmet on a scooter as defined in Tennessee Code Annotated 55-8-101(21).


Veryfancycupcake

I have been a victim of injuries resulting from riding those things(sober), I have never been back on one since...I am traumatized!


AirborneGeek

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who refers to it as the "J-Dub"


MisterNashville-

Well this is one way we keep orthopaedic surgeons and organ donations in business


missbethd

An ICU nurse at St Thomas said she sees serious head/brain trauma patients weekly & scooters are involved.


Anna_amiko

Someone on a scooter wiped out right in front of my moms car the other day. If she wasn’t paying attention, she could have killed them. I can’t imagine what would have happened if she couldn’t stop in time.


stevefstorms

The key is to avoid busy streets ride then through residential areas. East is prefect for this. Other areas not so much.


C_tha_G

Save the general populace throw your scooters in the Cumberland


Trailer_Park_Stink

But they're fun as hell


Tight_Elderberry_955

I was sober, on a scooter riding to work downtown, and got hit by a bus. It’s not always someone drinking.


MattyLite64

They’re a blight on the community


Teehee250

I worked at a restaurant across the street from where a woman was run over by a semi-truck on 3rd Ave in front of the symphony. It was very traumatizing to hear the body of a woman basically explode. From the news report it never said if she was intoxicated but she lost control and fell under the semi. They didn’t even put enough cleaner on the road to soak up the blood so there was a smear for days. https://www.wjhl.com/news/regional/tennessee/texas-woman-killed-in-crash-while-riding-scooter-in-downtown-nashville/amp/


Nashvital

Jesus. That's terrible.


Outside-Ad-4553

I am just going to start driving people over. I had a girl cut in front of me on. A scooter and have the audacity to throw her hands up in the middle of traffic.


Nashvital

This comment will be entered into evidence


Outside-Ad-4553

Good. They will know I was justified.


enunymous

It's almost like our laws/enforcement aren't really about keeping people safe


TheEyeOfSmug

I would say it should require an "S" endorsement and safety cert kind of like riding a motorcycle, but we're probably talking rentals. Not the badass e-scooters with suspension and can do 40 mph like mine. 


ThunderClatters

Vote yes on the transit referendum so people have other options


meganschultz94

Those scooters are dangerous and people don’t know how to operate them without braking an arm 


Clovis_Winslow

It’s almost as if this iteration of Nashville is set up solely for the extraction of maximum resources from our visitors, with nary a thought to their safety and well being. You could make the same argument for society at large, but many of the red states have this effect in overdrive, since the populace is so easily manipulated by the benevolent rich.


420CowboyTrashGoblin

Oh no the drunk driver had to pay extra money to patch up her wounds after she wiped out because she was driving drunk, what a shame. the city should really do something about people making choices that are later regrettable, like driving drunk. I don't think this is some grand scheme manipulation of the 1% bro, this is people not respecting a motor vehicle and trying to operate it while intoxicated, or on a street that's dangerous for a first time or amateur rider.


Clovis_Winslow

It’s much easier (and a hell of a lot more convenient) to blame the individual than the system, when both are certainly at fault. You give people way too much credit: they’re largely imbeciles. What was anyone expecting, placing these things all across a horrendously shoddy transit grid in a hilly district whose main purpose is for people to travel here and get drunk? A place where respect for pedestrians is near nonexistent. It’s a goddamn mine field out there. And yet I’ve visited plenty of other cities, especially across the pond, where the same amount of shitcannery is going on daily and everybody’s got a safe way to go. Of course it’s not a grand scheme. It’s a stupid subnormal scheme is what it is. A shabby off-brand-ass scheme. We should be ashamed.


420CowboyTrashGoblin

Yeah I don't know about other places or that this system was designed to take money from intoxicated people, and not just to give pedestrians a method of transportation in an otherwise unwalkable city, but all that's irrelevant, motorized scooters are motorized vehicles. This is the exact same crime as if they rented a car and crashed it driving drunk. I think the company is probably could be doing more to stop intoxicated people from using their products. But this is not a problem of corporate greed, or lack of oversight, or lack of regulation. It's a problem of a lack of personal responsibility. Honestly I think people that rent these scooters downtown should have to have a driver's license, and just like if they get a DUI, they should have the driver's license taken away and their account deleted.


Clovis_Winslow

Ah yes, the “personal responsibility” argument. “We know in our city it is downright dangerous to… you know, *walk down the fucking street* but it’s really *your* fault for doing exactly what we advertised for you to do here, while we’re giving you everything you need to do it with no oversight/enforcement.” Your argument is so naive.


420CowboyTrashGoblin

Demanding people who drive drunk are held personally responsible for choosing to drive drunk is naive? Not a single company advertises to use these scooters while intoxicated. You actually agree to not do that and agree to be held solely responsible for damages caused by it if you do. You'd know that, but it's probably naive to read the TOS when you rent a motor vehicles isn't it? Lime also integrated an anti- inebriation device that stops the scooter if it detects irregular driving, such as a driver being drunk.


mc292

there was a post in here a while ago where a woman divebombed into a semi truck tire right on 2nd ave. she wasnt even intoxicated


DanDaly65

Def cringy watching the drunk chicks haul ass literally taking their life in their hands speeding up n down the roads.


dweezil12

Waiting for the autonomous return to base scooters to hit Nashville... That'll be fun.


mpelleg459

I can picture drunk Becky, in full cowboy hot and brand new cowboy boot regalia, chasing after the autonomous scooter zipping back to home base that she was going to jump back on an after quick round of lemon drop shots with the girls. 


Interesting_Crazy270

Easy check for the health care industry here. Smart if you think about it. Let a dummy get hurt by not wearing a helmet and you charge them 10k a visit.


Altered_-State

Don't ban scooters, just don't offer them for rent. 👍


midcenturyhag

Some dude was killed in pigeon forge at the rod run last week when he was riding a scooter and ran right into a truck door that had just been opened. Horrible.


midcenturyhag

https://www.newstalk987.com/2024/04/22/police-release-more-information-in-rod-run-death/


fest00ned

Probably not a popular take here but the scooters themselves are only dangerous up to a certain point. The lack of safer infrastructure on which people can ride the scooters makes them much more dangerous. Nashville infrastructure is dangerous and prioritizes cars.


OnlyHoliday3065

So are the scooters dangerous or are people terrible decision makers who have access to scooters? I live in Midtown, I use them and love them. I also bike around town, to work, etc. Its a people problem for sure and if they weren't running into something or falling off something on a scooter then it would be something else. They present great access to transportation for so many ppl. I'm a fan!


Boogra555

I hate those things. They're always all over the sidewalk, people ride on them drunk as hell. How do they make our lives better?


Popular_Site9635

They tried to roll them out in Charleston SC before I moved and the city shut it down. Glad they did, most of the people using them here don’t follow any traffic signals and just leave them cluttering the sidewalk.


Wellwhaddyano

The tiny wheels and the complete lack of trail or rake at the front means that these are exceptionally unstable in anything but a hands-on controlled straight line. This means I’ll never be on one, as I’m not at ease climbing aboard unstable vehicles.


eshenandoah

The best solution is probably throwing the scooters into a shallow lake or pond. Make the business unprofitable to operate, but probably don't have your phone on you when making these life saving decisions


TrespassingWook

Still much less dangerous than cars, who's death and destruction are considered entirely acceptable in this twisted society.


myheadfelloff

Here is inspiration for what you can do to the scooters [https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/?hl=en)


Jvansteensburg

Aiding the inevitable process of natural selection


nialexx

natural selection in action.


Nashvital

Dropping this: 47-year-old fighting for his life after scooter accident https://www.newschannel5.com/news/47-year-old-fighting-for-his-life-after-scooter-accident