Unlicensed electric scooters keep appearing in US cities. Charleston’s not having it

Controversial scooter rental company Bird Rides faces yet another opponent, this time in South Carolina.

The city of Charleston sent the company a cease and desist letter, demanding the electric scooter company leave because it’s operating without a license.

Bird Rides is an electric scooter sharing company, which uses an app to allow people to find and rent the vehicles, which are strewn across the city. When riders are done with the scooters, they can leave them anywhere for the next person to find.

The scooter debacle began after Charleston Police officers found several of them strewn across the sidewalk, according to the letter.

“The illegal scooter rental program is creating an endangerment to the public health and safety,” the letter read.

Officials threatened the company with criminal charges, saying for each rental, owners can be filed anywhere from $1 to $1,092 and could face up to 30 days in jail. The letter also said Charleston Police could impound derelict scooters left in the public right of way.

The scooter start-up has faced its fair share of controversy. It’s been banned in cities like Denver and San Francisco, and sparked battles in Boston. In Sommerville, Massachusetts, authorities began seizing the scooters and impounding them, according to WBUR.

The city of Milwaukee sued Bird Rides after the company dropped off 100 scooters around the city, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

According to the company’s website, it is currently operating in 32 cities, including Washington D.C., Baltimore, Austin, Los Angeles, Charlotte and Raleigh.

This story was originally published August 6, 2018 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Unlicensed electric scooters keep appearing in US cities. Charleston’s not having it."