What is the enviromental damage?
why are scooters in the lake
I doubt the gps trackers work under water !!
Lime bikes and scooters (and their ilk) are not popular with some people. I’ve heard people talk about tossing them in the river in Portland because they’re cluttering up the sidewalks.
I feel the same way, but I’m not a vandal. We see those things parked randomly all over the place, including right in my own neighborhood. It doesn’t help that they’re ugly, so it comes off as a form of littering.
The local Lime office is about 1/2 mile away from my workplace. I’m tempted to stick my head in the door and tell them how much I don’t love them and then leave.
Are scooters all there are, or just what they could pull out?
They were probably rental scooters that one sees in liberal cities on every street corner, especially college towns.
What is the enviromental damage?
They have batteries in them...usually lithium.
The utopia of Austin. How quaint. I wouldn’t live anywhere near that pile of crap.
I wonder how much “Yard Trimmings” they’ll find in the lake.
This always blue city on a steeper descent now has these "free" scooters available, and the only people I have seen on them are "youths" of a certain "youthfulness." About a third of those sightings involve two of said y/y's on one scooter, in high glee while apparently seeing how much punishment the scooter can take.
When I asked an LEO I have a nodding acquaintance with about the lifespan of said scooters, he smiled and shook his head. "Now, you know we aren't supposed to talk about things like that in this town."
Ironic b/c Lady Bird Johnson’s big campaign was to stop littering.
“Please, Please, Don’t Be a Litterbug...”
I thought you couldn't rent a scooter without a heft security deposit to assure the company would get it back. If you don't return it, you get charged for it. I wonder how those policies work.
People throw rental scooters (like those from Bird, Lime, or Spin) into lakes, rivers, or oceans for a mix of reasons, often tied to frustration, vandalism, or sheer mischief. Here's a breakdown:
Many view the scooters as symbols of invasive tech companies flooding cities without permission. Early rollouts (around 2017–2018) involved "dumping" thousands of scooters on sidewalks overnight, leading to clutter and fines for cities. Throwing them in water became a protest act—think "corporate sabotage lite."
Scooters are often left haphazardly, blocking sidewalks, ramps, or driveways. Pedestrians (especially those with disabilities) get annoyed and retaliate by yeeting them into nearby water as "instant cleanup."
Viral trends on TikTok, YouTube, or old Vine-era videos encouraged "scooter tossing" challenges. It's low-effort content: film the throw, rack up views.
Some try to steal scooters for parts (batteries, motors) but abandon them in water if chased or if they sink unexpectedly.
Companies use GPS to retrieve them, but many end up as "scooter graveyards" underwater—divers in places like San Diego have pulled out hundreds.
It's dumb, destructive, and pollutes waterways with batteries and plastics, but it persists as a weird urban rebellion. If you've seen a specific incident, details could pinpoint the motive.
I lived in Europe when the fad of rental scooters started. When I was in Gdansk Poland tourists rented the stupid things and ran in to people and buildings and would just leave them all over the place. Within a couple weeks every one of the scooters ended up in the river. The locals were fed up.
New TikTok trend? Film a scooter going into the lake?