Photo: Car2Go
"There's a turf war brewing in Seattle now that BMW's ReachNow car sharing service is entering the market. It's coming into hostile territory, since Daimler's Car2Go has been there since 2012."
If you feel like you've read this short fragment on our website before, it's because you probably have. This was how our piece reporting the launch of BMW's ReachNow car sharing program in Seattle began, and little did we know that a mere six days later, we'd be proven right.
Only we haven't, as the incident is still being investigated by the police. And as sure as the water is wet, it won't show that ReachNow was involved in any way whatsoever. Just thinking about anything other than this would be extremely ridiculous on anybody's part. These are companies competing in a free market, not thugs fighting over controlling parts of the city.
Still, just last week, there were three cases of smart fortwo cars being found tipped over in Seattle. More will likely follow, as the 1,800-pound cars are easy targets for any group of individuals who have gone to the gym for at least once. As you can imagine, tipping a car over will result in very expensive damage, even though nothing vital (like the car's frame) is being affected. It does require repairing the whole side of the car, replacing the side window and mirror and probably the wheels too. Steering might need recalibration as well as other several minor adjustments. But when it all adds up, this tipping over can be a very costly business for the owners of the cars. As long as they're not insured, at least.
"Technically, yeah it is cow tipping, but I’m hoping that it doesn't catch on," a Car2Go customer called Daniel Martin told Q13FOX.com. Car2Go is trying to play down the incidents saying that tipping smart fortwo cars isn't a trend, but frankly that's not for them to decide. Daniel Martin, on the other hand, seems to take this more personally: "I know several people who use it to commute every day. It’s going to affect their travel time and it’s very inconvenient. It’s kind of rude." He does have a point. Stop tipping over cars, whatever their make. It's stupid and it's not funny.
If you feel like you've read this short fragment on our website before, it's because you probably have. This was how our piece reporting the launch of BMW's ReachNow car sharing program in Seattle began, and little did we know that a mere six days later, we'd be proven right.
Only we haven't, as the incident is still being investigated by the police. And as sure as the water is wet, it won't show that ReachNow was involved in any way whatsoever. Just thinking about anything other than this would be extremely ridiculous on anybody's part. These are companies competing in a free market, not thugs fighting over controlling parts of the city.
Still, just last week, there were three cases of smart fortwo cars being found tipped over in Seattle. More will likely follow, as the 1,800-pound cars are easy targets for any group of individuals who have gone to the gym for at least once. As you can imagine, tipping a car over will result in very expensive damage, even though nothing vital (like the car's frame) is being affected. It does require repairing the whole side of the car, replacing the side window and mirror and probably the wheels too. Steering might need recalibration as well as other several minor adjustments. But when it all adds up, this tipping over can be a very costly business for the owners of the cars. As long as they're not insured, at least.
"Technically, yeah it is cow tipping, but I’m hoping that it doesn't catch on," a Car2Go customer called Daniel Martin told Q13FOX.com. Car2Go is trying to play down the incidents saying that tipping smart fortwo cars isn't a trend, but frankly that's not for them to decide. Daniel Martin, on the other hand, seems to take this more personally: "I know several people who use it to commute every day. It’s going to affect their travel time and it’s very inconvenient. It’s kind of rude." He does have a point. Stop tipping over cars, whatever their make. It's stupid and it's not funny.
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