Gotcha is “continuing to experience challenges with their technology”. According to their tweet they’ve delayed the launch in Raleigh.
1 Like
Embarrassing. Would love to see more documentation from the city’s RFP process and how Gotcha was the clear winner.
1 Like
Well I’m sitting in Heirloom and 4 Gotcha scooters just passed by so I guess they’re out and about again
4 Likes
Breaking news coming from WRAL this morning
“Medical experts say you accept the risk of a head injury or broken or fractured bones when you hop on one.”
The article comes off as discouragement from using the scooters at-all.
Scooter, Bikes, Motorcycles - Neurosurgery and Orthopaedic training platforms without appropriate headgear.
1 Like
Wait, if I fall off a scooter I could injure myself? That’s breaking news? 
5 Likes
While I will agree with you on the last two, I myself refuse to ride either of mine without a full face helmet, Hell I even refuse to ride either on the road because I don’t trust other drivers. But these scooters I can run faster than, and while I agree a helmet would prevent some of these head injuries, I think more blame needs to be placed on user error on both sides (Car and scooter). Especially after just last night 3 pedestrians were killed in separate instances in Wake County alone, who’s to blame for that?. It just seems weird with the timing of the scooters finally getting back downtown and finally working properly and we get that fear mongering article.
I’ve been seeing a fair number of Gotchas around. Not sure how their parking zones work, but I’ve definitely noticed plenty parked in random spots (e.g., in front of someone’s house, etc.), so I guess the extra fee for not parking in a designated zone isn’t much of a deterrent vs. convenience.
This is what killed the pogo stick in the 70s. Certainly everything comes with risks, and with these sorts of mobility options, that risk is assumed upon renting the service. However, sometimes the risks usurp the rewards.
The way to keep this end from happening is for the riders to respectively and safely use the service. While this already happens among a percentage of the riders, way too many people use them for thrill/fun and put themselves and others at risk. That’s the problem that needs to be solved.
Certainly there are some things that would improve safety inclusive of having alternate transportation lanes (I suppose formerly known as bike lanes), slowing down vehicular traffic by speed limit and road design, keeping scooters off of sidewalks where obstacles increase risk to them and pedestrians, keeping roadways maintained and free of pot-holes, improve visibility at key locations in the roadway (especially intersections), etc.
So whats the solution? Ban walking?
This is the real solution. Wake me up when it starts.
5 Likes
Also not having people walk into traffic and cross and crosswalks. I’d estimate at least 3/4 of these pedestrian collisions could be avoided with simple common sense.
1 Like
I think far more pedestrian collisions are the cars fault. It is amazing the number of people who have no clue how to drive in a pedestrian environment. Everyday I see people try to take a right or left turn through a cross walk with pedestrians in it because they are clueless to the fact that even though the light is green the pedestrian has the right of way on the street they are turning on.
3 Likes
Not to mention distracted driving while manipulating mobile communication devices…
3 Likes
I see that downtown, and the distracted driving everywhere. But a lot of the stories in the news seem to be some person crossing in the middle of the road in the dark, etc.
So that constitutes bad pedestrian infrastructure. I have a hard time blaming the pedestrian when there was no safe place to cross due to decades of prioritizing cars with no thought to how people should cross. What are they supposed to do just be stranded on the side of the road they happen to be on. House is on this side of the street, grocery store is across the street, guess I will just starve.
3 Likes
I’m the cantankerous old man on this subject, but drunk / careless people on these scooters were all over the place flying all over downtown when the Birds 
landed. Their ass not mine (unless they hit me) but I saw a lot of dangerous events. Flying down West Street at about 25 miles an hour and not even slowing down at a stop sign and turning onto North Street was a common occurrence I saw.
4 Likes
Same here. I once saw one young man on a Bird and ran smack into the Jimmy Johns building going about 20 mph at the time. He was going too fast and panicked when a pedestrian came around the corner.
2 Likes
I’m talking about the people I see every day who are too lazy to walk 1 extra minute to the crosswalk and just jump into oncoming traffic. No one is starving.
2 Likes
It’s amazing how these scooters were going so fast when they all Max out at around 13-15 mph 
2 Likes