‘Next-level craziness.’ Rogue e-scooter company forges city permit, San Francisco says

When Go-X e-scooters began popping up in San Francisco bearing an official-looking city seal, community leaders were baffled — the company doesn’t have a city permit, KPIX reported.

“They actually created a false permit with a city seal on it?” said transit board director Gwyneth Borden, The San Francisco Examiner reported.

“That is just next-level craziness, we’re not even talking about lots of other things with them not paying fines,” Borden said, according to the publication. “This is pretty unbelievable.”

Now San Francisco has ordered Go-X, which it says also owes more than $200,000 in fines for illegal scooter rentals, out of the city, SFist reported.

The fines are owed on at least 540 citations for operating without a permit and putting scooters in the public right of way, KPIX reported.

Alexander Debelov, CEO of Go-X, said his company had met with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to gain its approval, The San Francisco Examiner reported. The organization of private businesses is not a government agency, however.

“The Chamber of Commerce is not a city department?” Debelov asked, according to the publication.

Rodney Fong, chamber president, says in a letter to the city that Go-X does not have the organization’s permission to use its logo, either, The San Francisco Examiner reported.

Debelov said he wants to work with San Francisco officials to straighten things out, KPIX reported. Go-X partners with 75 businesses in the city to host its rental scooters.

But the city has set a Jan. 18 deadline to have all the scooters removed from San Francisco, according to the station.

“Go-X is nothing more than a rogue company,” said John Cote, spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, SFist reported. “Go-X seems to think it’s above the law. It couldn’t be more mistaken.”

Four e-scooter companies have city permits to operate within San Francisco — Lime, Spin, Scoot, and Jump, according to the publication.

An American Medical Association report blames e-scooters for tens of thousands of Injuries in the United States as well as more than 3,000 hospital visits, McClatchy News reported.

The report says almost 40,000 people were hurt while riding e-scooters between 2014 and 2018, according to the publication.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 8:54 AM with the headline "‘Next-level craziness.’ Rogue e-scooter company forges city permit, San Francisco says."