Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Police Divers Pulled 20 E-Scooters Out Of A Texas Lake

By Nate Williams
E-scooter leaning on railing Ajax9/Getty Images

They might be called Bird scooters, but do they really belong in the water? Divers from the Austin Police Department's Lake Patrol and Dive Team recently pulled 20 electric scooters from a Colorado River reservoir near the city's center. In an official social media post on the recovery mission, the department noted that it had coordinated with the scooter-rental companies Bird and Lime to narrow down the devices' locations using their last known GPS coordinates.

At first, it seems strange why the recovery would fall on the police department and not the e-scooter companies themselves. However, Sgt. Issa Kafena of the EOD K9/Bomb Squad and Dive Team explains above how problematic the scooters have been to the department's operations: "When we were doing other recovery operations in the lake, for evidence or for drowned swimmers, there were always obstacles ... those obstacles are very dangerous for them when they're underwater. If their lines get snagged, or if they get caught on something, it can become very dangerous for the divers."

Scooters are causing problems all over the U.S.

E-scooter tipped over on its side Iiievgeniy/Getty Images

Austin isn't the only city where people are dumping e-scooters into lakes, rivers and other public waterways. It's been a problem across the country for years now. Part of the blame could be the e-scooter's dockless business model: Once users finish their quick ride on a Lime scooter, they can just leave the thing anywhere. If it's left on a bridge or waterside walkway, well, that's going to increase opportunities for people to chuck them in the water.

Another example: In Oakland, California, cleanup crews pulled more than 60 scooters out of Lake Merritt in a single month. Cities in states from New York to California have even done temporary bans on major electric scooter brands due to pranks and general misuse. You could play devil's advocate and say "Good riddance, those things are an annoying eyesore," but consider this: The lithium-ion batteries inside the scooters can degrade when wet and start releasing toxic pollutants into those public waters. That's a major environmental hazard. After all, they're not waterproof.

Back in Austin, the Dive Team plans to continue its cleanup efforts to other parts of the lake where scooters and other debris have been spotted. With the help of the scooter-rental companies and their GPS-based locating, city officials hope to make the lake safer for both recreational users and emergency-response divers alike. (Whether or not they'll end up having to do another massive clean-up in a few months remains to be seen.)

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