bikes_10.jpgRichard is quoted the Dallas Morning News article “For disabled people, rent-a-bikes are more than an annoyance, but do they violate the ADA?” an article by Kyle Martin that appeared on January 22, 2018. The problem is simple. Bicycles are rented and then left blocking sidewalks and ramps. The person to blame is the individual who rented the bike, but such individuals are not subject to Title III of the ADA. The rental companies themselves have no control of the bikes other than the ability to engage locks that make them unrideable, and the City has few effective means to police where the bikes are left. It is a reminder that the ADA is not a general “make life better for the disabled” law, but rather a targeted effort to give the disabled equal access to the goods and services of American businesses. Some problems, including people who are just plain rude, can’t be fixed by legislation.*

*For more information about the problem see “What a photographer found on a search for bike-share carnage in Dallas” by Rose Baca of the Dallas News. Thanks to Rose and the Dallas News for use of her photograph.


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