Lime scooters are back in Winston-Salem. So we rode one around.

Featured photo: Lime scooters are back in Winston-Salem. (photo by Gale Melcher)

After Winston-Salem’s previous scooter vendor Spin ceased operations in December and their vehicles spun away, a new and recognizable vendor has taken its place.

Now, adults and children alike fly by on Winston-Salem’s hottest new thing on two wheels: Lime scooters.

In March, city leaders updated the city’s micromobility ordinance, which had remained largely unchanged since 2019 when it first parked in Chapter 78 of the city’s code. Previously, scooter rides were only allowed from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., but the update pushed those hours to 24/7. The city made a lot of compromises with this update. They previously required scooter companies to have a local office with staff and pick up their equipment at the end of the day, as well as have sidewalk riding detection for their devices. Not anymore.

Coincidentally matching the color scheme of the city’s buses, these lime-green hunks of metal on two wheels are back to dashing through the city’s streets and sidewalks, even though taking scooters on the latter is banned by the city. The city also prohibits riding skateboards in the central business district downtown.

The city has some more rules: Riders must be 16 years old, follow the same traffic laws as motor vehicles, obey stop lights and stop signs, yield to pedestrians and more. Scooters can’t be used in Old Salem, on greenways or in public parks. The city also strongly recommends that people wear helmets. Scooters have a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour.

Jeff Fansler, the city’s transportation director, noted during a city council committee meeting in February that the city conducted a survey in which they received 705 responses. According to the survey, 63 percent of people ride them simply for fun. People riding scooters in downtown Winston-Salem on Wednesday afternoon seemed to be ignoring that rule about the sidewalk. But how could they know it was a rule? There are no signs posted around downtown telling them not to, nor does the app warn them about it.

Additionally, while 23 percent of riders report that they already planned on taking their ride on a scooter, 67 percent of people hop on the scooters spontaneously after stumbling upon them — which probably means they don’t have helmets on hand. Or in this case, on head — which was true of those TCB observed riding scooters on Wednesday.

Eighteen percent of riders surveyed reported that they take scooters to work and work-related meetings and 32 percent take it to social or entertainment events. 

Spin’s scooters took around 26,000 trips in Winston-Salem per year, and on average, riders traveled 1.3 miles and spent an average of 24 minutes on their trips. 

Earlier this month, 200 scooters were stationed throughout the city and people are already getting a lot of mileage out of them. Their presence is concentrated downtown, but a few have spread out throughout the city — on Wednesday one was located near the Harris Teeter on Stratford Road. 

On Third Street, a man and a little girl whizzed around the corner. A minute later, they were back to take another joyride around the block. A little boy darted along Fourth Street toward Merschel Park. TCB also rode one of these scooters — for eight trepidation-filled minutes — and most of that time was spent figuring out how to re-park it correctly. At the end of the ride, the app requires riders to take a picture of it in a parking dock in order to avoid a fine.

The Lime app’s map makes it easy to locate a scooter and turn what could’ve been a long walk into a short ride. But after that ride is over, sometimes the scooters get left in random spots. Around six complaints about illegal parking of scooters are filed every month, Fansler explained.

Despite the fact that scooters aren’t to be ridden on the sidewalk, taking to the street filled with cars may not be completely safe for riders. According to a March study by the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, compared with bicycle-related injuries, scooter-related injuries were associated with greater risks of long bone fracture and paralysis. 

Additionally, the total annual costs for hospitalizations related to bicycle and scooter accidents increased from $6.6 million in 2016 to $35.5 million in 2020.

The rides aren’t cheap, either. There’s a $1 start fee to unlock the scooter; after that, each minute tacks on an additional 45 cents to riders’ bill. TCB’s eight-minute ride came out to nearly $5.

Still, city officials and riders seem happy with the reemergence of the scooters, which can bridge the gap for those who don’t have a car or are further from bus stops. And it looks like they’re here to stay — for now.

• Share this article: