A cheeky Twitter account that chronicles mischievous e-scooter parking spots (in a tree, in a dumpster) has popped up.
“I do think the account itself is a humorous thing, and I think the photos will keep coming,” said the 30-year-old IT salesman from Lincoln Park who created of ChicagoScooterFails.
Hundreds of e-scooters were placed around the city Saturday, the first day of a pilot program that runs through Oct. 15.
ChicagoScooterRails was inspired by @CTAFails, a Twitter account that documents shenanigans and frustrations that riders experience on the city’s trains and buses.
However, beneath the humor, there’s a more serious note.
“There’s probably a better way of going about it than dropping vehicles around a busy city that can go 15 mph for a lot of people who’ve had no training in riding them,” said the creator of ChicagoScooterFails, who who asked that only his first name, John, be used.
“What that is, I don’t know.”
The account had just over 1,400 followers as of Wednesday morning.
Most photos on the account are re-tweets or were sent by friends who live in areas with a high concentration of scooters.
But as the account grows, he expects more pictures from random strangers will appear in his message box.
He wouldn’t hazard a guess as to whether malice or horseplay was the source of some of the odder places the scooters have been found.
John admitted being anti-scooter after regular visits to cities in Texas that have e-scooter programs that are a regular source of accidents and frustration for pedestrians who must navigate sidewalks littered with parked scooters.
“We’ll see how it plays out here,” said John, who takes the L to work and has yet to ride an e-scooter in Chicago.
Please line up in a neat and orderly fashion when awaiting a @cta bus. Thank you for riding! #ChicagoScooter pic.twitter.com/NdRvhkNYcs
— ChicagoFails (@ChicagoFails) June 19, 2019
Some of our favorites from the first weekend of scootergeddon. Thanks to all those who hate scooters! #chicagoscooter pic.twitter.com/MG3IBLzrLO
— ChicagoFails (@ChicagoFails) June 17, 2019