Can cities ban e-scooters in the name of public safety? Bird says no way

People ride shared electric scooters in Santa Monica, California, on July 13, 2018.

Enlarge / People ride shared electric scooters in Santa Monica, California, on July 13, 2018. (credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

The transportation startup Bird has sued the city of Beverly Hills over its temporary, six-month e-scooter ban. The suit argues that state law, which explicitly allows for “motorized scooters,” actually preempts any municipal prohibitions.

The lawsuit, Bird Rides v. City of Beverly Hills, was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The civil complaint argues that the city’s July 24, 2018, city council meeting—where the ban was quickly approved—was a “hasty and deceptive proceeding.”

Worse still, the company alleges, city police have “embarked on a campaign of indiscriminate seizure, snatching up Bird’s property anywhere officers spot a scooter.” Bird claims that it has received over 950 citations and demands to pay over $ 100,000 in fines. The company also says that the city hasn’t provided proper documentation and justification for those seizures.

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Post Author: martin

Martin is an enthusiastic programmer, a webdeveloper and a young entrepreneur. He is intereted into computers for a long time. In the age of 10 he has programmed his first website and since then he has been working on web technologies until now. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BriefNews.eu and PCHealthBoost.info Online Magazines. His colleagues appreciate him as a passionate workhorse, a fan of new technologies, an eternal optimist and a dreamer, but especially the soul of the team for whom he can do anything in the world.

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