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- E-scooters exploded onto city streets in 2017 and caused instant chaos—fun to ride, but wildly unregulated.
- They were tossed in rivers, banned by cities, and branded public nuisances.
- Now in 2025, they’re slowly returning—with new rules, better tech, and higher prices.
Why Everyone Hates E-Scooters (But They Might Be Making a Comeback)
Remember when e-scooters first showed up?
One day, you’re walking through your quiet neighborhood, and the next—bam!—there’s a swarm of neon scooters dumped on the sidewalk like a glitch in The Sims. It was 2017, and e-scooters didn’t just arrive—they invaded.
They promised freedom, fun, and a green revolution in city travel. Instead, they delivered sidewalk pileups, tech bro chaos, and one of the most aggressively annoying trends of the late 2010s.
So yeah, people kinda hated them.
The Scooter Apocalypse: A Quick Recap
The concept? Brilliant.
Micromobility was the buzzword—personal, electric, short-distance transport to fill in the gaps that buses and subways missed. Bikes, scooters, whatever. And thanks to new battery tech, scooters were suddenly cheap, fast, and kind of fun (in a “sketchy-but-let’s-do-it” way).
Companies like Bird and Lime didn’t wait around for city approval. They just dropped their fleets on the streets overnight like some kind of startup flash mob. It was... bold.
And people noticed. By 2018, scooters were everywhere.
Chaos in the Streets
Here’s where the wheels (literally) fell off.
E-scooters were:
- Abandoned in parks, rivers, and fountains.
- Ridden on sidewalks, highways, and literally inside buildings.
- Treated like public toys—used, abused, and often broken.
There were no rules, no helmets, no infrastructure. And people? They were getting hurt. A lot.
15 mph might not sound fast, but try hitting a pothole with tiny wheels and no suspension. Broken wrists, smashed teeth, concussions—injury rates spiked. And when no one’s wearing helmets? Well, you get the idea.
The Logistics Were a Nightmare
Scooters weren’t just chaos magnets. They were a maintenance disaster.
They had to be:
- Charged every night
- Rebalanced when too many piled up in one area
- Repaired constantly because... people are animals
Some folks even started “scooter hunting” for money—charging them at home for a small fee. Others just yeeted them off rooftops for the memes.
It was unsustainable. And cities had enough.
The Scooter Bans Begin
By 2019, the honeymoon was over.
Cities like San Francisco, New York, and Paris banned or heavily restricted e-scooters. Laws were passed. Permits became mandatory. Most scooter startups either pivoted, shrank, or went bankrupt (RIP Bird).
COVID sealed the deal. If no one was going outside, they definitely weren’t hopping on a shared scooter with mystery germs.
Scooters Got Smarter—and More Expensive
And yet… they’re not gone.
In 2023, Lime posted its first profitable year ever. They’re still kicking in places like Paris, Sydney, and Vancouver, where infrastructure is actually built to support them. They’ve added:
- Docking stations
- Swappable batteries
- Speed limits
- Drop-off zones
- And yes, even in-app helmet reminders (that no one uses)
They’ve also raised prices—a lot. What used to cost 15 cents a minute now runs closer to 45 cents or more. A 25-minute ride in D.C. recently clocked in at nearly $11. Ouch.
So… Why Are They Coming Back?
Because the core idea wasn’t bad.
People still want fast, cheap, easy ways to move around without a car. Micromobility just needs to be handled smarter:
- Integrated with transit
- Regulated by cities
- Not dumped randomly into society like a tech prank
And in some places? It’s working.
Vancouver is partnering with Lime to sync scooters with public transit systems.
Grand Rapids offers discounts and free daily rides to low-income riders.
The Netherlands (of course) has scooters fully integrated with their national train pass.
The Future of Scooters: Better, Safer, Regulated?
In 2025, it seems like e-scooters might have a future—just not the chaotic, anything-goes version we remember.
They’re:
- More expensive
- More regulated
- Less annoying (in theory)
City planners are working with companies now, not against them. Scooter fleets are being limited, tracked, and taxed. And there’s a new focus on making them safe, sustainable, and actually useful.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll stop seeing them floating in lakes.
From Meme to Mobility?
E-scooters are like the weird kid in school who showed up wearing a cape—annoying, chaotic, but oddly full of potential if they’d just chill out a little.
They weren’t ready for prime time in 2017. But in 2025, with new tech, better rules, and cities finally catching up, we might actually see them become a real solution for real problems.
Just… wear a helmet this time, okay?
Stay balanced on the road (and in tech trends) with more mobility chaos at Land of Geek Magazine!
#escooterfail #micromobility #techchaos #scootergeddon #landofgeek
