There is a Bird scooter abandoned at the corner of 1st and S. Sheridan. It has not been moved in over a week, other than when I have to pick it up out of the roadway.
Lime scooter. Bryan Park. 8 am. Wednesday Feb 5
Per the city of Bloomington's electric scooter guidelines "Park the scooter in a bike rack or in another lawful spot on public property that does not block the right-of-way, limit access for individuals with disabilities, risk damaging private or public property, or jeopardize public safety." Images were taken on September 22, 2019 at 7:30 AM
broken scooter sitting against a lamppost on the corner of Wiley and Lincoln. Blocking access to curb cutout.
A broken scooter (handle bars have been removed) has been lying at the corner of Wylie and Lincoln for weeks and is blocking the sidewalk. I reported this one before, but nothing has been done.
This specific incident involved a Lime scooter, but I urge you to please ban ALL motorized scooters from Bloomington. My family and I were just coming back from the airport yesterday when we saw a young woman collide head-first into a car in cross-traffic (without a helmet because of course, none of these scooters come with helmets) because her brake stopped working. This was no one's fault but the manufacturers'. But given how much they make, I'm doubtful much will come out of it if she were to take legal action. There have been so many accidents (some fatal, as you know) in so many cities, including ours, due to these companies dumping scooter after scooter onto seemingly every busy sidewalk, and it is completely within your control to ban them here--after all, Indianapolis did. I would like to know your reasons for allowing them to continue to be used in Bloomington when we know how dangerous they have and will continue to be, as long as they are on the streets.. Just how many more accidents must we see and hear about until something concrete is done?
Following up on case# #185581: The people who ride those scooters are typically rude dismissive of common decency. They ride fast on sidewalks even when there are people present, they ride them in the dark in groups, sometimes 2-3 on a single scooter, they *often* ride the wrong way on one-way streets, and if you make a comment to them about hazards they are creating they curse and/or gesture obscenely. Please please please ban them from the city. Yesterday there was another accident - 10th/Woodlawn this time. Does the City really want to be known as a place that encourages people to risk their lives, and turn a blind eye when people are injured or killed? How many more accidents is it going to take for you to wake up and stop the insanity.
Theo scooter parked in the middle of the sidewalk on the south west corner of the intersection
I was walking on the sidewalk near 4th and walnut and 5 scooter riders rode by me and one ran me over! I thought there were supposed to be restrictions on where scooters could be ridden and parked. I frequently see them parked in handicapped ramps. They are polluting our city and making it less accessible.
Good Morning, I received the following email message from Frances Elizabeth Sheets <fsheets@iu.edu> dated Fri, Sep 2, 2022 at 12:11 PM To: "martipa@bloomington.in.gov" <martipa@bloomington.in.gov> "To whom it may concern, Let me get right down to business: 7th street is an absolute fucking nightmare. I grew up in Bloomington, and now live close to downtown as I am a student at IU. This means that I navigate 7th street every single day. Let me tell you - this is not an easy task. I recognize and appreciate the effort that the city has put into the new bike lane running from campus to the B-line. As someone who rides a bike/electric scooter to get around, this bike lane is great. However, the bike lane coupled with the removal of stop signs between Indiana and Walnut has caused more problems than it has solved. Problem number 1: Absolutely no one knows when it is their turn to go. Specifically, when crossing 7th on Grant and Dunn, cars rarely (in my experience) yield to cyclists. This means that I have been inches away from being hit by a car multiple times while using the bike lane. There is no signage instructing cars to yield to those in the bike lane or vice versa. This is an immediate safety issue to me, and one that is relatively unavoidable as 7th street is the road I have to use to get to work, class, and back home every day. Since there is no bike lane on 10th street, using it as an alternate route is not a safer option. Problem number 2: Flow of traffic. Because there are no stop signs on 7th the flow of traffic is constantly a struggle. About half of all drivers stop and attempt to let pedestrians/cyclists/other cars either cross or turn. However, this often only happens in one lane, which means cars are regularly slowing, stopping, and then having to speed back up again because lines of traffic in one direction form very quickly. I experienced this literally five minutes before sitting down to write this email: there was a line of traffic waiting to turn from Grant, multiple cars slowing down traffic attempting to yield to those at the Grant stop sign, and myself and other pedestrians/cyclists trying to cross the road. Again, this is a blatant safety issue. Problem number 3: Visibility. This is more of a potential problem. Young trees have been planted along the median between the bike lane and the road. When these trees reach maturity, they will drastically lower visibility between the bike lane and the road, making the problems mentioned above even more dangerous. Since the stop signs were removed around six months ago, I have witnessed AT LEAST six car crashes on 7th between Grant and Dunn alone. I have also witnessed more drivers than I can count accidentally turning into the bike lane instead of onto the road. Pedestrians also walk in the bike lane frequently, and there was even a city-sponsored run/walk where participants were blocking the entire bike lane in front of the IMU. As someone who has both driven and biked along 7th, the removal of stop signs has not helped at all. If anything, it makes people drive unreasonably fast or unreasonably slow. Everyone I have talked to about this issue has agreed with me, so I know I am not alone in my frustration. Please, PLEASE at the very least put more signage in this area. It is quite dangerous, and as a resident of the city, the new design makes me question whether or not those in charge of city planning have actually ever driven downtown. I apologize if my tone comes off as aggressive, but in the past week alone I have almost been hit by four cars when using the bike lane!!" Thanks, Pat Martin