E-scooter hire companies are running pilot schemes to stop people riding their vehicles intoxicated.
Firms such as Tier, Europe’s largest e-scooter operator, and Voi, will use apps so riders don’t ride fuelled with alcohol.
Research released last month revealed e-scooter-related injuries are most likely to occur at the weekend when riders are fuelled with alcohol.
Tier, which is one of London‘s three official e-scooter hire firms, will use its app to ask riders if they have been drinking and will direct them to order a taxi if they have been.
E-scooter hire companies are running pilot schemes to stop people riding their vehicles intoxicated, including Tier, Europe’s largest e-scooter operator, which will use its app to ask riders if they have been drinking and direct them to order a taxi if they have
Voi, another hire firm, has an in-app game which tests users reaction times and, if they fail, will be asked to think again before hiring a scooter, The Sunday Times reported.
Another operator, Bird, asks riders to enter a keyword between 10pm and 4am, in a scheme known as Safe Start.
The limit in the UK is 80mg of alcohol for 100ml of blood, while in Scotland there is a lower limit of 50mg.
The penalty for being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit may include three months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to £2,500 and a driving ban.
E-scooter drivers are prone to alcohol-fuelled risk taking, such as kerb jumping, the analysis of e-scooter injuries in the German city of Berlin revealed.
Research released last month revealed e-scooter-related injuries are most likely to occur at the weekend when riders are fuelled with alcohol
The authors found alcohol consumption prior to e-scooter use was linked to increased odds of brain injury and hospital admission, regardless of experience on the vehicle.
The worrying findings were published the same day rental electric scooters hit the streets of London as part of a trial involving six of the city’s boroughs.
It is the first time e-scooters will legally be allowed on the UK capital’s roads, although private e-scooters continue to be illegal in public areas in the country.
Amazingly, helmets are recommended as part of the UK government-backed trial, but riders are not legally required to wear one.
Over the next 12 months, more areas expected to join the UK government-backed programme, with 60 to 150 e-scooters being available to rent in each borough initially.
Voi, another hire firm, has an in-app game which tests users reaction times and, if they fail, will be asked to think again before hiring a scooter
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The government hopes e-scooters will offer Londoners an accessible and environmentally-friendly method of travel, without emitting greenhouse gases like petrol and diesel vehicles.
Privately owned e-scooters are banned on UK public roads and e-scooter rollout has been tentative.
E-scooters made the headlines in July 2019, TV presenter and YouTube influencer Emily Hartridge was killed while riding her e-scooter in Battersea, London.
She is believed to be the first person to die in the UK in an accident involving an e-scooter. She was later ruled to be riding too fast with an under-inflated tyre when tragically killed in a crash with a lorry.
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