As the Washington Policy Center has highlighted previously, cities that have allowed scooters to be deployed in their downtown areas have had mixed results on their effectiveness. Spokane is one of the latest cities that is struggling with the electric scooters and a poorly planned implementation.

The Spokesman reports that despite hitting 1 million rides since the scooter deployment in 2018, a serious safety problem has developed.

Safety is huge concern for scooter programs. Since scooters are required to be used on the roadway instead of on sidewalks, it introduces the very real risk that the scooter rider will be in close proximity to faster, heavier vehicles including cars and buses. Seattle already requires scooter riders to wear helmets to promote safer trips, but this is almost impossible for the city’s police to enforce. Injuries are infrequent, but when they occur, they are significant.

Additionally, as Spokane residents have discovered, abandoned scooters on the sidewalk are causing a safety issue for pedestrians, pushing some into the street to avoid the discarded scooters. Preventing scooter abandonment is nearly impossible in Spokane.

In addition to safety concerns, this adds to the cost of running the service as the scooters must be retrieved and repaired, shortening the lifespan of the scooter.

Many local governments that are pushing the benefits of having electric scooters in their downtown areas don’t really have a clear picture the overall fiscal impact.

Cities that have tried the experiment and failed are embroiled in controversy and are experiencing “scooter rage” with their residents. The company Jump already pulled out of San Diego when the scooter program failed there.

And that doesn’t include the scooters that end up in ditches on the side of the road.

As with many feel-good environmental policies, the benefits of scooters are frequently inflated while costs are diminished or altogether ignored.

Spokane has now become the latest casualty of a poorly implemented scooter deployment.