Is the Rickshaw Sting Right or Just Ridiculous?

Did you hear about the “sting” on the rickshaw driver giving commentary about the passing sights, or, as the ticket read, an "unlicensed tour" to an undercover cop? Did you hear it cost him over $1,000? CPD is cracking down on those well defined calves that make getting home from the upper King bars so easy, and they mean business.

There are two sides to this. The first is, why can’t a rickshaw driver tell his passengers looking at the beautiful buildings of downtown Charleston instead of his backside, what the names of those buildings actually are? Hospitality and warm welcoming locals are half the reason we even have high tourist numbers. This isn’t Detroit. It’s the sunny south where if we see you looking at one of those maps of downtown, we’ll stop and help you on your way, giving you a few suggestions of sights and restaurants along the way.

However, because of that hospitality, tourism IS one of our biggest industries, and if every rickshaw driver started giving their own tours, why would people even pay for the carriage tours, guided walking tours or bus tours? There’s definitely a sense of pride taken by the locals here, and a lot of effort has been put into keeping Charleston true to it’s rich historic past. Just look at all the anti-cruise flags on houses south of Broad. The regulations have been in place for some time now, so it’s not like he didn’t know he could get caught.

It’s like driving without insurance. Sure it’s expensive, but is it really worth getting caught?

We leave it to you, opinionated readers. What do you think about this “sting” put on the drivers of Charleston’s very unique means of transportation? Is this going to kill the hospitality these drivers are known for, or is it a just means of protecting one of our biggest industries?