Those things are a terror. People rent them, and then they drop them off randomly when they arrive at their destinations, usually in the pedestrian parts of the roads. Walking there gets challenging even when you are agile, but for elderly or handicapped people this means they have to step on the road to get around the mess.

The article makes it sound more like a car problem than anything else. If you stay alert, off your phone, and don't ride above your skill level in the bike lane, you will be fine.

People ride on the sidewalk in sharrows and death-gutter style bike lanes.