Bird Scooters in Thousand Oaks California: What You Need To Know

Residents of Thousand Oaks, California will soon have the opportunity to cruise around town on rentable e-scooters in 2019. As of November 27, 2018, officials in Thousand Oaks approved a deal with Bird that would allow the e-scooter company to operate within city limits.

This agreement allows Bird to send e-scooters into Thousand Oaks for a one-year testing period. Throughout this trial, city council members will determine new laws and discuss the possibility of making rentable e-scooters a permanent part of the city. Thousand Oaks reserves the right to terminate this program at any time.

If all goes according to plan, these e-scooters could be on Thousand Oaks’ streets at the start of 2019. Throughout the year, city leaders will work closely with Bird to monitor road safety.

As of today, no other cities in Ventura County have e-scooters on their streets. Indeed, a few Californian cities like Ventura and Beverly Hills have laws banning the devices.

Officials in Thousand Oaks City Council don’t seem to be worried about this e-scooter program. In fact, councilmembers put this agreement with Bird on the consent calendar, which means there wasn’t a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue.

When speaking with the press, Thousand Oaks officials admit they’re probably not so concerned with e-scooters because they didn’t have to deal with hundreds of these devices being placed in their city illegally. Councilmembers say other cities like San Francisco have a more guarded attitude to e-scooters after a negative first experience.

This doesn’t mean, however, Thousand Oaks officials aren’t aware of the many safety issues surrounding these devices. Because there’s a clear set of restrictions in the Thousand Oaks-Bird deal, however, city leaders believe they’re better equipped to fix problems as they arise.

Renting a Bird Electric Scooter

Renting a Bird Scooter is easy: download the app to your smartphone, enter your license and credit card information. When you’re ready to ride, open up the app and find a scooter near you. When you get to the scooter, scan it to activate it, and off you go. The scooters are currently $1 to rent and 15 cents per minute. They’re dockless, meaning you can leave the at your destination.

Free Helmets from Bird

Once you’ve taken your first ride, you can log in to the Bird app and request a free helmet.

What Are The Restrictions In This Deal?

So, what are some of the major points in this Thousand Oaks-Bird agreement?

First, Bird must comply with the current e-scooter laws in the California Vehicle Code (CVC) §21235. Some of the key rules set forth in the CVC include restrictions on riding e-scooters on sidewalks and parking e-scooters in hazardous locations.

Speaking of improperly parked e-scooters, Bird is required to remove all e-scooters parked in hazardous locations ASAP. The city also expects Bird to collect any e-scooters that have safety issues. City council can seek financial compensation for any damaged or improperly parked e-scooters that remain on Thousand Oaks’ streets for extended periods.

Another key issue in this agreement has to do with communication. Thousand Oaks requires Bird to always be available for contact both on their official URL and via phone service.

Will California Lutheran University Allow E-Scooters?

Before approving the Thousand Oaks-Bird deal, one issue that came up had to do with California Lutheran University’s (CLU) participation in the program. Councilmembers wanted to know how to deal with possible issues with e-scooters on CLU’s Thousand Oaks campus.

Throughout this trial, CLU officials have vowed to work closely with the city council should e-scooters present a problem on their campus. CLU also announced it is considering making a deal of its own with Bird to legally operate on its campus.

Since CLU is a private institution, its deal with Bird might differ from the City Council’s agreement. Today, there’s no official word when or if CLU will finalize a deal with Bird.

E-Scooter Crashes: Not Always The Rider’s Fault

As e-scooters are rolled out in more cities like Thousand Oaks, it’s important for e-scooter riders to realize that many crashes occur due to no fault of their own. Numerous serious crashes involving e-scooters have been caused by the negligence of other drivers who fail to give enough space or who improperly yield.

Although e-scooters are a new phenomenon, that doesn’t mean riders have no rights. Anyone involved in an e-scooter crash should seek legal counsel to understand the damages they could recover from their crash.

Additional Information On Bird

Based in Santa Monica, Bird has swiftly grown to become one of the leaders in the rentable e-scooter space. Customers can now find Bird’s e-scooters in over 100 global cities and dozens of US college campuses.

For more detailed information on Bird, or to download the company’s app onto your mobile device, please visit this website: https://www.bird.co/.

Allen Vaysberg

Allen Vaysberg practices personal injury law and works tirelessly to defeat the tactics of insurance companies and large corporations who try to deny justice and fair compensation to injured people.