I know everyone thinks the worst thing about those electric scooter share programs is that once they’ve served the rider’s purpose, they’re just discarded like trash until someone from the company arrives to pick them up. It’s this issue that’s led several cities to actually ban certain scooter companies from operating there altogether.
But in the past year, we’ve learned that they can also start on fire – the evidence of which was apparent when Skip and Lime pulled scooters temporarily after reports of batteries either smoldering or producing flames.
You know what? Just to be on the safe side, grab an electric bike instead … no, not that either?
TechCrunch is reporting that ride-hailing giant Lyft, who also dabbles in bike-sharing, is pulling more than a thousand electric bikes from locations in the Bay Area of California after two of them caught fire over the past few days.
According to a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, though these were two separate incidents, both bikes appeared to be at docking stations when their batteries caught fire. No one was reportedly hurt, but witnesses told the Examiner that the batteries were leaking some kind of green fluid.
Lyft told TechCrunch that it was “out of an abundance of caution” that they were pulling the bikes, but the San Francisco Metro Transit Authority seems to have some concerns, stressing how important bike-sharing is to the transportation system in general. A spokesperson also said that they have an inquiry into Lyft “as to the circumstances surrounding this incident as well as to how they intend to prevent any future fires.”
So, I guess, in the meantime, the best and safest “micro-transportation” might be your feet. But it’s hot out there, so wear shoes.
