Esteban Galindo. Photo from online fundraising page.
Esteban Galindo, 26, is the first scooter fatality in San Diego County. He passed away after colliding with a car while riding a Bird scooter in Chula Vista on Saturday, December 22.
Now Bird is claiming Galindo was riding its scooter “without permission”.
The driver that was involved in the collision with Galindo’s scooter was traveling southbound on Third Avenue and had the green light, according to police. And police reported to NBC7 the driver told them Galindo on the scooter had “come out of nowhere.” The driver pulled the vehicle to the curb and stayed.
A representative from Bird said “… the victim was on a Bird that he had taken without permission and was subsequently struck by a car.” The rep added that their scooters don’t work between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. for safety reasons.
Yet, according to NBC 7 Galindo’s family members told them he got the scooter from the house of a friend who charges scooters for Bird.
Local Chula Vista police and Bird officials are working together to figure out just what happened. Police told NBC 7 the investigation could take months.
Galindo’s family and friends have created a memorial honoring him near the spot where the crash occurred and have created an online fundraising page to help cover funeral expenses.
Unfortunately, emergency room doctors have been predicting such a fatality in San Diego due to the massive unloading of thousands of scooters into the area without real regulations or enforcement.
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Tragic.
“… the victim was on a Bird (scooter) that he had taken without permission…” Or maybe he was sharing a scooter?
Sounds like his buddy is a freelance charger, had a few scooters lying around his house, and said “Sure, you can go ride this one, it’s unlocked since it thinks I’m charging it so you won’t have to register or pay.”
Since the rider didn’t rent the scooter from Bird they’re probably going to argue like hell that they’ve got no liability for the accident. Worst case they’ll try to pin blame for the accident on the friend that let him take the scooter without paying.
“emergency room doctors have been predicting such a fatality”
I am going to predict next year in San Diego there will be fatality from DUI drivers, from cars crushing into each other, from distracted texting drivers hitting pedestrians.
I guess this proves there needs to be more regulations!
Don’t be a scrooge! You’re missing the point.
Looks like the CDC will be doing a “study” on scooters
https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2018/12/cdc-study-scooter-accidents/153415/
I’m a little confused here. The driver has the green light, scooter rider “comes out of nowhere”, gets hit and this is the scooter companies fault? Did I miss something? While everyone agrees this is a sad, and tragic event, the scooter didn’t start itself and decide to go for a ride, did it?
I don’t think anyone’s blaming Bird for the fatality. The odd part is the company claiming he took the scooter “without permission”.