Little Rock became the latest city to get Lime pay-as-you-go e-scooters on Jan. 8. The city agreed to a six-month pilot project with San Francisco-based Lime, which was founded in 2017, is now doing business internationally and has been valued at $2 billion. (On Jan. 30, city attorney Tom Carpenter sent a note to Lime saying it would be terminating its deal with Lime after six-months for not addressing the city’s safety concerns. Mayor Frank Scott later issued a statement saying the city will consider proposals from other e-scooter companies.) The company has deals with more than 100 cities throughout the country, but, in at least one respect, Little Rock is unique: It’s the only Lime market where the scooters are forbidden on the street. City ordinance 32-463 prohibits “scooters” and other devices, such as roller skates, from being ridden on roads except at street crosswalks. The devices must be ridden on sidewalks at all times. (Bicycles, on the other hand, must be ridden on paved roads or tracts specifically designated for them.)
A collection of things you can do with a Lime but probably shouldn’t: (To protect the identity of these rule breakers, we had them wear sunglasses and dark clothing.)
More important things to know:
* You have to download the Lime phone app to start the scooter.
* Lime’s terms-of-service agreement says you must be 18 or older and wear a helmet to ride, but in
* Driver’s license verification on the app is required in some markets, but Little Rock is not one of them.
* It takes a kick start to get going.
* The scooters’ speed can reach nearly 15 miles per hour.
* Fully charged, the scooters’ batteries can last for more than 20 miles.
* Generally, “juicers,” or people who get paid to take the scooters home and charge them, have the scooters on the streets by 8 a.m. and have retrieved them by 9 p.m.
* You can’t get a DWI on a Lime, but if you’re drunk and acting the fool on one, police could charge you with public