Scooter riders aren’t supposed to be on the sidewalk, but they do it because they feel safer, expert says

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — The tragic death of a woman last week in an e-scooter crash in downtown Salt Lake City is raising questions about rider safety and city infrastructure.

According to city police , the 33-year-old woman was riding a Lime scooter early Friday morning on the sidewalk along West Temple, between 400 South and 500 South, when she hit a buckle in the pavement and crashed.

The impact left her unconscious and she was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Per a GoFundMe page , the woman was Ashley Rose Peck, a single mother of five children.

A small memorial was put up over the weekend at the site of the crash. The city also has traffic cones and signs around the buckle in the pavement, although it’s unclear if they were there before the crash.

When ABC4 reached out to the city for comment, they released a statement calling the incident “tragic.”

“The city is reviewing the circumstances related to the accident, but cannot comment further,” the statement said, in part.

Among the questions raised by the crash is: Where are scooter users supposed to ride?

According to the city, scooter riders are not supposed to ride on sidewalks downtown.

“If you are using an e-scooter or bike, you must ride in the street in bicycles lanes or travel lanes,” the city’s transportation website said. “Walk your wheels on the sidewalk!”

Lime and other scooter companies, such as Spin, also tell users not to ride on the sidewalk unless the street is blocked. In that case, users are told to ride at walking speeds.

Even so, it’s common to see e-scooter users riding on sidewalks in Salt Lake City. The vehicles can reach speeds up to 15 mph.

Cameron Carter, a planning and policy specialist with Bike Utah , which works to improve travel systems for non-vehicle users, said that many people choose to ride on the sidewalks because they don’t feel safe on the roads.

“People are going to do what’s best for them as they see safety and comfortability,” he said. “A lot of the roads in Salt Lake are really wide and really fast, and because of that it pushes a lot of people to use the sidewalk, even though it might not be allowed.”

As Carter sees it, the best option would be for the city to install more protected bike lanes, where e-scooter riders and cyclists could feel safe from passing vehicles.

Aside from that, however, he said it’s the city’s responsibility to provide well-maintained infrastructure for all modes of transportation.

“Sidewalks are also part of the city’s responsibility,” he said. “It should be safe to ride on a sidewalk.”

According to the outlet Cycling West , ridership on Lime scooters has exploded in Salt Lake City since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year between May and August, Lime riders took 340,000 trips in the city — an increase of nearly 60% over the 2022 numbers.

Lime attributed its success in Salt Lake City to the city’s remarkable growth and investments the city has made in bike lanes and bike parking infrastructure.

ABC4 reached out to Lime about last week’s crash. The San Francisco-based company said that it is “communicating with city officials and stands ready to assist law enforcement with its investigation.”

The company added: “Our hearts are with the Peck family during this unbearable time.”

ABC4 also reached out to local police for more details on the crash, but they did not comment.

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