SMYRNA, Ga. — Another metro Atlanta city is considering a ban on dockless electric scooters. Just a few months ago, Marietta banned them – and now Smyrna is considering doing the same. The vote is scheduled for Monday.
The vote was originally scheduled nearly a month ago, but it was tabled in order to get more information on the issue.
But folks like Tim Atunnise of Smyrna believe the city should slow down on the decision to ban the scooters.
“I can understand how it can be a nuisance, but I just feel like we can put more work into keeping them in their own lane," he told 11Alive's Elwyn Lopez. "Like, they usually help a lot of people get around."
Atunnise says he believes a ban on shareable scooters isn’t the way to go – but adding safety measures is the best bet.
"Definitely should have more safety regulations, maybe fines about where they are, as far as, like, where you’re allowed to ride and stuff like that," he explained. "I feel like that will put people in place about how they are using their scooters."
Just last month, a man was killed while riding an e-scooter. Police said he was hit by a car in Atlanta.
If banned, Smyrna would join a list of cities who’ve already cracked down on shareable scooters.
Since shareable scooters started invading major cities last year, Grady Hospital says it’s been treating about 25 patients each month for injuries. Most are from falls and user error, along with people getting hit by scooters.
The CDC says 45 percent of injuries that happen on e-scooters are head injuries.
Another big complaint? Some say the scooters are littering streets across the nation.
"They were everywhere. They had people tripping over them, and they were in parking spaces, and they were just all over the place," said Andrea Burns, who just came back from a trip to Nashville. And hopes she doesn't see the same in Smyrna.
"Having some sort of control over that would make it a whole lot easier to co-exist with them, but right now the way it is set up there is a hot mess."
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