Analysis: States seek to curb chaos unleashed by electric scooter boom
Tune in to today's Technology 202 Live event in San Francisco with keynote speakers including California attorney general Xavier Becerra and TaskRabbit chief executive Stacy Brown-Philpot. The livestream begins 1 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PT. Get more details People enjoy riding scooters on The First Day of Spring in the Nations Capitol in Washington , DC on March 14, 2019.
The lawless, Wild West-like environment that marked summer 2018 — a period when e-scooters appeared on city streets without warning, unleashing anger, vandalism and injury in overwhelmed cities — is largely a thing of the past. In total, nearly 70 bills related to e-scooters have been introduced in 29 state legislatures in recent months,
“Automobiles had to operate in an environment in which they weren’t really suited — dirt roads, no speed limits, interacting with pedestrians who had no idea how quickly the machines moved, and navigating roads dominated by horses and carriages,” said Rickert, who remained adamant that e-scooters are here to stay. “In some ways we’re seeing history repeat itself.”
“The companies are just now starting to try to get their arms around injury rates. Reliable data is still sparse, but initial assessments and the growing number of publicly reported fatalities have raised alarm bells. That’s why cities are going to take a very close look at those numbers as well,” Warren said, adding that cities and consumer safety agencies will want to compare those numbers to other modes of transportation, such as bicycling.
As Verizon and AT&T make major content acquisitions, there are increasingly fears that the companies could use the data they collect to power ad-targeting businesses that could compete with the likes of Google and Facebook. “The new rules mean that Google and other online platforms will have to sign licensing agreements with musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work online,” Yun Chee reported. “Google’s YouTube, Facebook’s Instagram and other sharing platforms will also have to install filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted materials.”
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