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Lime, Spin and other companies are pulling scooters off the streets in Florida over concerns they could become dangerous projectiles during Hurricane Dorian.
Miami officials told scooter companies to retrieve their vehicles by Friday. Dorian is forecast to make landfall along the Atlantic coast of Florida as early as Labor Day weekend, or early next week, as a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 140 miles per hour.
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The scooters have spread across the Miami area throughout 2019 and have been in operation in Fort Lauderdale since last November. They're also in other Florida cities that could be impacted by Dorian, including Tampa, Tallahassee (home of Florida State University), and Gainesville (home of the University of Florida), where scooters are expected to roll out this fall.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in June that lifted restrictions on riding scooters in the street, and let cities take the lead on regulating them.
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A Spin spokesperson said the company "will not be deploying scooters during the severe weather" and that "all Spin scooters on the ground will be retrieved well before the storm is expected to arrive."
Additionally, a spokesperson for Uber's JUMP said, "Due to Hurricane Dorian, scooters are currently not available for rent in the Miami and Tampa markets. Our operations team is currently removing all of the scooters in both markets so that we ensue that they do not become a hazard before any storm impacts are felt."
Bird confirmed they're safely storing their scooters and added "Bird is extremely committed to the safety of our riders and those in the communities in which we offer our services and safety includes weather conditions. We're working closely with city officials and local authorities across the state and have a team closely dedicated to monitoring weather conditions."
And a spokesperson for Lime confirmed the company is pulling its fleets in Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and "reducing" the size of its fleet in Tampa.
"This amounts to nearly 1500 scooters and 500 bicycles," Lime said. "We're in touch with each city and will comply with any request to prioritize safety."
Lyft has secured all 244 of its Miami-area scooters in a warehouse. A spokesperson told Mashable, "The safety of our community is fundamental to Lyft. We have temporarily paused all scooter operations in Miami and securely stored the scooters ahead of Hurricane Dorian, per City requirements. We will resume operations only once conditions improve and will continue to follow the guidance provided by the City of Miami."
UPDATE: Aug. 30, 2019, 11:39 a.m. EDT Updated to include statements from Bird and Lyft.
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