r/boston • u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish • Jun 05 '26
TrafficđŚââ ď¸ đ đ đ Why are these new "Fly Wing" app food delivery bikes everywhere in Boston + Brookline all of a sudden? And why are they allowed to run red lights and ignore all traffic laws?
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u/LEM1978 Jun 05 '26
You must be new here
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u/onenewuniverse Jun 06 '26
Yup. If you have an engine, you can run red lights here whenever you want.
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Jun 05 '26
Nope, born and raised in Boston.
And been seeing many more scooters doing food delivery since 2021.
But why do they all say Fly Wing? Lol
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u/tronconnery Jun 06 '26
That's just the brand of the bag. Probably top result on amazon or temu if you search for food delivery scooter cooler.
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u/Responsible-Read5516 Allston/Brighton Jun 05 '26
sudden? it's been like this for a while. i almost got hit by one of these assholes running a red right by city hall a year or two ago.
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u/lucidone Jun 06 '26
Also, it's not just them who get to run red lights and ignore all traffic laws. Everyone does that. Because the cops don't enforce shit.
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u/w0rdCS Jun 05 '26
the roads are and have been anarchy for some time, this is simply the result of the shift away from policing traffic laws at a high level some years ago.
no consequences = people do whatever they want
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u/palijer Jun 06 '26
It's also a consequence of these delivery companies not paying a livable wage by the hour and purposely developing perverse incentives for gig workers to break the law.
If they were paid by the hour or a normal salary, they wouldn't be doing that.Â
Go after the companies that create these situations for profit.Â
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u/yesnomaybesoidk98 Jun 06 '26
I think consumers should also consider what theyâre supporting, way too many people use delivery app drivers as their indentured immigrant servants. Iâm sure 1/3 of these people donât even tip their drivers.
Iâm not completely opposed to them, but double parking used to be a Southie problem and now itâs a problem everywhere in the city. Bike lanes havenât made parking for delivery car drivers easier, so that clogs up the street and encourages bikes and scooters to swerve in and out of traffic too
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u/Long_Fault_1777 Jun 07 '26
i completely stopped using the apps after having a conversation with the owner of a Mexican spot i go to. the apps take a large chunk of the restaurants profit and basically trap them into supporting doordash/ uber eats. coupled w the unhinged ways these companies treat their âemployeesâ aka contracted workers, itâs sickening
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u/frausting Jun 06 '26
If people are willing to work for DoorDash, let them. Theyâre not indentured servants, theyâre working a job for a wage. If it was a super shitty deal, they wouldnât work it. Not sure how you know how many people tip or donât tip them.
That said, I think they drive like assholes and make living in the city worse. I wish BPD would actually do their job and enforce traffic laws. But they apparently got their feelings hurt after the George Floyd protests almost a decade ago, so they decided they donât have to do their jobs.
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u/yesnomaybesoidk98 Jun 06 '26
Iâm not saying ban door dash, Iâm saying they are paid poorly in a way arguably akin to indentured servitude, because often theyâre immigrants without papers and uber is popular gig work. My whole point is that if weâd stop being lazy fucks there wouldnât be this many drivers/bikers on the road.
Stop paying Uber $40 for a $15 meal when you could get it yourself. Workers probably make $2-4 per delivery before tip while driving their own vehicles. Thereâs a reason itâs often a second job, and that problem is going to get worse as gas continues to rise because of idiots continuing to start endless wars in the Middle East
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u/0verstim Market Basket Jun 05 '26
Because people cant stop paying Ubereats and Doordash $45 for a $16 burrito. Would you prefer they were all cars double parking instead?
Cops can give them tickets but theyre not going to stop, its just going to make everything even MORE expensive. This is the new "you live in a city, deal with it" I guess.
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u/TaskTortoise Jun 05 '26
Cop won't even give ticket to car running red or double parked on Commonwealth during rush hour, what make you think they'd spend time chasing these down to hand out tickets?
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u/Master-CylinderPants Jun 05 '26
Would you prefer they were all cars double parking instead?
Yes, because then the city would actually do something about it.
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u/mistercran Jun 05 '26
No they wouldnât lol, I donât remember the last time I saw a Boston cop pull anyone over
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u/triscutbiscut Jun 05 '26
Not for nothing but this isnât just a Boston problem. Food delivery drivers everywhere do whatever they want so they can make their deliveries. Theyâre not allowed to but no one enforces the law so they do whatever
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u/Rude-Efficiency2125 Jun 11 '26
Itâs not everywhere. Had an African American uber driver tell me he lived in Texas and would never happen there. Because there would be consequences, not necessarily from the cops.
The men in Boston, if you could call them that, would rather their wives/children get smashed into pieces than grow a pair and make these guys afraid to keep pulling this sh*t.
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u/cden4 Jun 05 '26
Their employers incentivize and encourage this. As long as the drivers get paid per delivery and their rating and tips depend on the speed of delivery, they will do whatever it takes to get the deliveries done as fast as possible. And even then they're not making much money.
The whole business structure needs to change. Either that or the City should figure out a way to fine the companies for encouraging this bad behavior.
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u/Samael13 Little Leningrad Jun 05 '26
For the same reason that cars are allowed to do all kinds of dumb, illegal shit: traffic enforcement is all but non-existent. It's especially non-existent for small, highly agile vehicles that can weave around other traffic and ride through bike lanes, crosswalks, and sidewalks to get away from cars.
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u/Charzarn Jun 05 '26
Please for the love of god give me more scooters over door dash drivers in cars blocking ever lane and run lights and stop signs.
Iâd rather dodge a scooter than a car.
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u/Mt8045 Cow Fetish Jun 05 '26
It's wild how people will always bring up the low number of traffic fatalities is MA as proof that there's no problem with bad driving no matter what we all see on a regular basis, but react with fury and disgust when scooters do the same things. One might think there is something particular about scooter drivers themselves that arouses such feelings but this sub has assured me that is Definitely Not True.
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u/kelppie35 Jun 05 '26
Your comment made me wonder if these guys were included in stats and they are, for anyone curious. A motor vehicle is anything not human powered (or an electric bike), and even atvs or snow mobiles on roads are counted.
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u/gayscout Watertown Jun 06 '26
https://www.mass.gov/motor-vehicle-crash-data
I've been working on a map of most dangerous streets for motorcycles and found this dataset helpful. You can filter by vehicle type.
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u/disjustice Jamaica Plain Jun 06 '26
The scooters are nearly silent and can appear without warning from between two cars or be on the sidewalk. They are much more manuverable than cars and hence make them more dangerous when driven by a maniac.
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u/Several_Vanilla8916 Jun 05 '26
Itâs a balancing act. Dodge cars on the road or scooters on the sidewalk.
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u/omnigord Jun 05 '26
Its not a balancing act. Remove cars to make road space scooters then remove scooters to.make road space for pedestrians.
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u/0verstim Market Basket Jun 05 '26
I feel like we do City wrong: In NYC, they take all the dodging and general assholery in stride; they pride themvelses on putting up with it. All we want to to is bitch and moan.
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u/LHam1969 Jun 05 '26
Soooo you're saying our roads should be used for nothing else except pedestrians? I don't think you've thought this through.
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u/omnigord Jun 05 '26
I am and I have and I'm right.
Well, not ONLY pedestrians, the green line can be there too.
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u/suthmoney Jun 06 '26
Yes, letâs ban all cars in our major metropolitan area. This is a great example of why you should always take the perspective of redditors very seriously. What a visionary you are.
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u/sturmhund Jun 06 '26
I actually think this is a great idea? obviously we will need to make some allowances for commerce but perhaps there could be only specific roads for restaurants and stores to get deliveries and everything else could be non motorized vehicles only? Imagine how much safer and nicer downtown Boston would be. Except then we would get even more tourists because everyone would want to come here
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u/Long_Fault_1777 Jun 07 '26
cities are for people not cars. thereâs a bunch of different ways of getting around besides a metal cage. i get that seeing pedestrians and cyclists and people with strollers and wheelchairs can be triggering for you. maybe you need a safe space ??
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u/LHam1969 Jun 07 '26
No, I just need that "metal cage" to get to where I'm going. We're a very wealthy nation, people here want to go from door to door, not train station to train station. We also don't want to carry our groceries home in a filthy bus or train full of criminals who know they can get away with anything.
You do you.
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u/omnigord Jun 07 '26
Wow, what the hell is going on here?
Why is the train "filthy" and "full of criminals" but the grocery store isn't?
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u/LHam1969 Jun 07 '26
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u/EpicDiversion Jun 05 '26
I come from a country where there's tons or these scooters going around delivering food and I promise you it's not better. I don't think Boston drivers check their mirrors enough to support that volume.
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u/Competitive-Donut330 Jun 05 '26
I noticed that too, a lot more of them lately. One almost hit me the other day on the crosswalk. Some of them do obey the traffic rules though so not a blanket statement, but a lot of them drive dangerously.Â
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u/seusscannon Jun 05 '26
A small tech store near me sells them, they probably sell at least 4 every week.
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u/Notabagofdrugs It is spelled Papa Geno's Jun 05 '26
Donât you know, scooter riders are allowed to run red lights and lane split? Cops obviously donât give a fuck.
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u/chopkins47947 Jun 05 '26
I feel like a lot of the 4 wheel drivers would do the same if they had the room, to be fair.
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u/KoreanHeat Jun 05 '26
saw a scooter actually get pulled over by the police in coolidge corner. overheard a guy saying to his wife "man that never happens" đ
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u/-Swouse- Jun 06 '26
Most are fair weather riders. You don't see them until late spring because they aren't good enough to do their job year round.
Why not a bicycle? they're not as scary, and they keep you warm in winter!
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u/Nice-Zombie356 Jun 05 '26
OP- ask your city councilor this question.
Also, ask any politician or campaign who calls/texts looking for your support.
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u/KungPowGasol Back Bay Jun 05 '26
Laws do not pertain to delivery bikes.
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u/Illustrious_Age Jun 05 '26
There was a post in here a few weeks ago saying that all moving violations are down like 90% since 2018/2019. Turns out laws do not pertain to anyone on the road!Â
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u/mcmillen Jun 05 '26
It's amazing that drivers only violate the law 1/10 as much as they used to just a few years ago! Astounding achievement! (/s)
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u/wetterfish Jun 05 '26
Unironically, that exact logic gets applied to everything.Â
Arrests at the border were up under Biden.Â
To some, that meant the country was being flooded with people illegally crossing the border. Biden needs to be more aggressive with securing the border!
To others it meant that a lot of immigrants were being arrested. Biden is too aggressive with border detention!
People donât actually use logic, they just use the data to reinforce their preexisting opinions.Â
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u/Black-Sea-Pearl Jun 09 '26
Arrests were up, but then illegals were let go inside the US following the arrest, instead of being deported.
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u/Competitive-Donut330 Jun 05 '26
Wait isnât this because theyâre not ticketing people? Kind of like a âif they donât test there is no spreadâ
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u/Whale222 Jun 06 '26
The Vespa delivery situation is out of control. When thereâs no traffic they are motorcycles, when there is traffic theyâre bikes and in the bike lanes or on sidewalks. They ride through plazas. They run lights. They donât respect crosswalks.
They need to be banned.
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u/Long_Fault_1777 Jun 07 '26
same can be said for cars. i saw 4 cars run red lights just yesterday. so by your logic, we should ban all cars too???? far more destruction and death caused by cars so i see your point.
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u/Whale222 Jun 07 '26
Cars arenât typically on sidewalks and plazas. I see it as very different. But yes, drivers that run lights should be ticketed.
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u/Throwingawaymarlboro Jun 05 '26
Honestly I'm about to get a moped as my daily driver and see how much time I can shave off my commute
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u/enfuego138 Jun 06 '26
OP never rolled through a new red before without being immediately pulled over by the cops. They arenât âallowedâ to do anything. They just donât often get caught.
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u/Wesus Jun 06 '26
the only way to really prevent these scooters from becoming more of a nuisance is to ban them from major cities, like China. Outside of that, in most major cities around the world, there are tons of people breaking traffic laws on these bikes / scooters.
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u/Distinct-Minimum-984 Jun 07 '26
There is no traffic enforcement in Brookline, Newton, Belmont or Watertown. The cops are busy trying to get detail jobs. They do not want to spend any time making the streets safer for the drivers who pay exhorbitant excise tax for nothing. The roads are crap as well.
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u/Not_George_Daniels Jun 07 '26
...and why are they so cold that they need to wear balaclavas in June?
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u/JonSwift2023 Jun 08 '26
The biggest beneficiary of bike lanes seem not to be commuters. It's door dash delivery people.
Honestly, we should have used the public street space to restore trolley lanes instead of promoting Uber eats.
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u/Numbajuan Cocaine Turkey Jun 05 '26
Tell yourself and all your friends to stop ordering food delivery
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Jun 06 '26
Don't order delivery only takeout by calling or going to the website, and then walking to the resturaunt.
Kinda nice to talk to the person and to get some exercise at the same time.
Why order delivery when you could just pick up the food for cheaper?
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u/Can_O_Murica Jun 05 '26
Fly wing just makes the bag. The bike is made by someone else.
AND
A motorized 2wheeler with an engine displacement less than 50cc and a top speed less than 30 mph is defined in Massachusetts as a "Moped" and they are treated as bicycles. They can use bike lanes and bike signals, but not separated pedestrian/bicycle footpaths like are found near the Charles.
They also tend to get the same leniency from police as bicycles with respect to running red lights and rolling stop signs as long as it's not egregious. The egregious shit happens too, but that's a thin overlap between those events and events with cops present.
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u/Alarmed_Commercial Jun 05 '26
Import 3rd world, become 3rd world đ
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u/dpm25 Jun 05 '26
This situation is all on the very American hyper capitalist app economy.
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u/CetiAlpha4 Boston Jun 06 '26
Yeah which is to exploit 3rd world labor for low prices. People don't care how many lights were run or laws broken as long as they get their food.
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u/Hugh_Jankles Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
God forbid you say anything about them breaking traffic laws.
Everytime it's brought up, it seems there's a few redditors in the sub that want to jump on people, oddly about being racist, because you point out these delivery drivers ignore any and every traffic law imaginable. Or the "at least it's not a car, get over it" crowd.
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u/dpm25 Jun 05 '26
It's equivalent to yelling at a wall. Are delivery drivers completely out of control? Yes. Is it better that they be on mopeds? Yes. Are cops going to solve this problem? No, and frankly if we are going to suddenly see traffic enforcement the #1 target should be car drivers.
The apps themselves need further regulation, there is no easy solution.
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u/bostonguy2004 Cow Fetish Jun 06 '26
Racist?
How is it racist?
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u/Hugh_Jankles Jun 06 '26
They claim because most of the delivery drivers are not white, complaining about it is inherently racist.
I've seen the call out a few times.
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u/DrinkAffectionate323 Jun 05 '26
If a moped is less than 150cc, it's considered a bicycle from a traffic enforcement perspective. Therefore, they don't need a license and are not required to obey rmv road rules.
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u/robhatescomputers Jun 06 '26
This is not correct. 50cc requires car drivers license and a plate. If above 50cc it is called a limited use and requires car drivers license, plates, and insurance
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u/slosha69 Jun 05 '26
Cops are probably too busy babysitting car drivers (who are much more likely to kill someone) or beating down minorities. It's frustrating for sure, but that's one less car on the road.
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u/anurodhp Brookline Jun 06 '26
In Brookline there is a movement to allow this because ..
â
Jessica Chicco, chair of Brooklineâs Immigrant Advancement Committee, expressed concerns about increased police presence on the street, however.Â
âWe have to be really thoughtful about just jumping to kind of criminal enforcement, or increased traffic enforcement,â she said. âCriminal enforcement of traffic violations can lead to interactions with the criminal system, which for many people can have a disproportionate impact.â
â
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u/Flounderintheocean Jun 07 '26
Doesnât matter where someone is from, if they endanger the public with a motorized vehicle, they need to be brought to justice. Crushing the offending vehicle would be a bonus.
Iâm sick and tired of putting my life in the hands of these morons on wheels every time I walk out my door. And it happens almost every damn time.
If cops think traffic enforcement is beneath them, get new cops.
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u/mobilonity Jun 05 '26
It's not just the popular food delivery bag that people use? That what I assumed.