e-scooter

Malta to ban rented e-scooters from March

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The decision had been taken because of “intolerable abuse,” Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia said. A surprise announcement on Friday mentioned the cause as inconvenience to pedestrians. The violations are so many, doubling the number of enforcement officers overnight would not have solved the issue as per the minister. It is understood, private e-scooters will still be allowed, with incentives introduced to encourage people to buy their own. This decision makes Malta the first European country to ban rental scooters, although the French capital Paris took a similar decision after holding a referendum. Refer: https://blog.bikernet.com/paris-climate-accord-vs-paris-e-scooters/ Government earlier this year stated it will consider designated parking zones for the 5,000 scooters on the island, before banning them outright. The term e-scooter may be confusing– it is not the typical scooter such as a Vespa. Refer above images of an e-scooter. * * * * * * * * Click & know more about Bikernet’s Free Weekly Newsletter

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E-scooter injuries in US jump 222% in 4 years

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According to a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study, electric scooter-related injuries in the US jumped 222 per cent between 2014 and 2018, with over 39,000 people injuring themselves. San Francisco: E-scooters may have become popular as more people are becoming aware of its benefits and convenience, but there has been a major surge in incidents of injuries related to scooters, particularly among young adults in the US. According to a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study, electric scooter-related injuries in the US jumped 222 per cent between 2014 and 2018, with over 39,000 people injuring themselves. The number of hospital admissions soared by 365 per cent to a total of nearly 3,300, according to the UCSF study. “E-scooters are a fast and convenient form of transportation and help to lessen traffic congestion, especially in dense, high-traffic areas,” Benjamin N. Breyer, MD, a UCSF Health urologist and corresponding author, said in a statement. The rise in the spate of such incidents was also due to the lack of helmets; almost a third of injuries involved some kind of head trauma. Nearly a third of the patients suffered head trauma — more than twice the rate of head injuries to bicyclists. About a third of the e-scooter injuries were to women, and people between the ages of 18 and 34 were the most often injured for the first time in 2018. “But we’re very concerned about the significant increase in injuries and hospital admissions that we documented, particularly during the last year, and especially with young people, where the proportion of hospital admissions increased 354 per cent,” Breyer added. The UCSF team had previously looked at bicycle injuries using the same data set and found scooter riders had a higher proportion of head injuries, which was also identified in

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Honda Benly e electric scooter to go on sale in Japan from April 2020

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Honda has announced that its electric scooter Benly e will go on sale from April 2020. The e-scooter will first go on sale in Japan, then in other global markets, says the company in a release. The scooter will be priced between 7.37 lakh yen and 7.48 lakh yen. Honda aims to sell around 200 units of the scooter per year in the Japanese market. The electric scooter targets corporate customers, mainly logistics providers. The scooter will be available in four different variants. It will be powered by dual electric batteries that can be detached easily and easily swappable as well. As the two-wheeler manufacturer claims, this electric scooter can be used for last-mile pick-up and delivery services.

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Lyft to pull plug of e-scooter business in six cities, laying off 20 employees

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The six cities are Nashville, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Columbus, as the media report claims. Lyft has notified its employees about discontinuing its e-scooter business in six cities, claims a media report. Also, the company is claimed to be laying off at least 20 employees from the bike and scooter team, where around 400 people currently work. The six cities are Nashville, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Columbus, as the media report claims. The report further quotes a Lyft spokesperson saying, “We’re choosing to focus on the markets where we can have the biggest impact. We’re continuing to invest in growing our bike and scooter business, but will shift resources away from smaller markets and toward bigger opportunities.” Addition to the 20 Lyft employees, a number of contractors responsible for scooter charging and their repositioning will also lose jobs. Previously, Lyft laid off around 50 people this year, claims the report. Lyft is not the only company to pull out from the micro-mobility segment, as earlier this year, Uber too announced the discontinuation of Jump bikes and scooters from a number of select markets including San Diego, Providence and Atlanta. Lyft currently operates its scooters in cities like Arlington, Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Monica and Washington DC, informs the report further.

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Hundreds of drunk scooter riders lost their licenses at Germany’s Oktoberfest this year

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by Zac Palmer from https://www.autoblog.com Drinking and riding carries the same penalty as drunk driving Oktoberfest just wrapped up in Munich, and surprisingly, there’s some pretty alarming transportation-related news coming from it. Ride-sharing scooters and drunk party-goers don’t make for a good combination, but that’s exactly what German police had to fend with throughout the 16-day-long event. According to German news outlet Deutsche Welle, and picked up by The Drive, local police say they caught 414 people riding scooters while under the influence. Of those, 254 riders had their driver’s licenses revoked on the spot. Germany treats scooters the same as cars, so there are serious consequences for not following the rules of the road — similar to America, there are repercussions for drunk driving. What remains unreported is how many accidents or injuries occurred as a result of all the drunk scootering. German police were on high alert when it came to the scooters, as they were just unleashed on the public in June this year. The numbers are slightly better for folks who were driving an actual car in the city of Munich during the festival. Police found 315 drunk drivers and forced 215 of those to give up their licenses immediately. Millions from all over the globe attend Oktoberfest every year. Beer is consumed in copious amounts in massive beer glasses known as steins — the only size of beer served in the beer tents amounts to 33.8 ounces. Drinking tasty German beer and singing all day may have given some folks a little too much confidence to pilot an E-scooter home rather than walking like the rest of the crowd. Police did a great job of keeping the scooters from entering onto the Oktoberfest grounds, banning their use during the festival itself. We’ll leave you with

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Electric scooter sharing firm VOI raises $30 million for European expansion

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VOI-Electric scooter sharing firm VOI raises $30 million for European expansion STOCKHOLM: Electric scooter sharing firm VOI Technology has raised $30 million in another fundraising round since being set up seven months ago for its European expansion and investment in research to fend off growing competition, it was reported on Monday. Uber Technologies Inc, Alphabet and several other high-profile investors are very interested in gambling on scooter-sharing leading to rapid rise in Europe thanks to large commuter populations and lower levels of car ownership compared to USA. Domestic startups such as Tier and Dott and U.S. rivals Bird and Lime raised thousands of dollars in 2018 to expand further into the crowded marketplace after having successfully put many scooters on European roads. VOI is backed by investors such as BlaBlaCar CEO Nicolas Brusson and venture fund Balderton Capital. Their belief they can beat rivals by building closer relationships with city authorities gives them an edge over competitors such as Uber. Unlike major rivals, “asking ‘permission’ before we enter new towns and cities means we can work with the authorities on the ground to offer more than just a viable alternative to cars,” CEO Fredrik Hjelm said. We could also “help people to combine their e-scooter journeys with the existing public transport network,” he added. People can locate nearby VOI scooters via an app or maps and then ride it by paying a 1 euro unlocking fee plus riding costs of 0.15 euro per minute. August launch has seen VOI build up over 400,000 riders, taking more than 750,000 rides, and it said it would use the new funds to expand in Italy, Germany, Norway and France. Critics warn operators could face similar issues as bike sharing firms. Forced into price wars due to competition and facing backlash from authorities over

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