Cutting brake lines on Bird electric scooters is a thing.
Some people who don't like Bird electric scooters are vandalizing the scooters by cutting their brake lines. This is very concerning. If a rider uses one of these scooters, he or she could be seriously injured when the brakes fail
At McGee, Lerer & Associates, we are aware of several sightings in Santa Monica of Bird scooters with cut brake lines.
This photo below, taken at the corner of 7th St. and Washington Ave. in Santa Monica, shows three Bird scooters with cut brake lines.
This photo below shows a Bird scooter with an intact brake line.
Bird Rides, Inc., knows that the vandalism of scooters by the cutting of brake lines is a thing, because it's been reported on the internet that it is happening in San Francisco.
The company could be preventing this known danger easily. There are two Bird scooter models:
- Thin stem, with the brake line exposed
- Thick stem, with the brake line inside the stem, shielded against this type of vandalism.
In Santa Monica, Bird has started to roll out some of the thick-stemmed models. Bird’s competitor in the electric scooter business, Lime, offers for rent only the thick-stemmed models.
The question is: since Bird knows that brake line cutting is a thing, why haven't they removed all of the thin-stemmed models, with their exposed brake lines, from the road and replaced them with the thick-stemmed models?
Our advice: always check the brakes before riding an electric scooter. Perform a quick visual inspection, to see if the scooter looks like it’s been tampered with. Once you start riding, immediately test the brakes.
If you or a loved one is injured in an accident involving an electric scooter, call McGee, Lerer & Associates for a free consultation.