Ofo is the latest Seattle bike-share service to warn riders of brake lines being cut in acts of vandalism.
In March, Ofo competitors Spin and LimeBike issued similar warnings to riders after receiving reports of cut brakes in Seattle. Ofo is urging riders to inspect brake wires and squeeze brakes to test them before jumping on any shared bike in Seattle.
Brake cutting is most prevalent in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, Westlake Park, and International District neighborhoods, according to Ofo.
The Seattle Department of Transportation started reported incidents of vandalized brakes on bikes in March.
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Bike-share customers have also discovered cut brake lines in Seattle. On March 2, Yifan Zhang, the co-founder of the Seattle startup Loftium, tweeted that her husband narrowly missed colliding with cars when his brakes were cut on a shared bike.
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Ofo, Spin, and LimeBike are all dockless bicycle sharing services, meaning riders can pick them up and drop them off anywhere in the city. Their portability has made the bikes frequent targets of vandalism.