Neuron e-scooter research raises awareness
By Justin Seward on May 24, 2022.
The safety-leading e-scooter operator Neuron Mobility had a pop-up tent for ScootSafe event at the Farmer’s Market in Exhibition Park on Saturday in recognition of Canada Road Safety Week.
Neuron released new research into a pedestrian’s perception of road safety and launched a new safety campaign, highlighting the impact of what irresponsible e-scooter riding can do to different members of the community.
“It raises rider awareness so people can understand what the riding rules are and how they can operate the scooters or e-bikes safely, said Brian Bohn, Neuron Mobility’s Lethbridge operations manager.
Safety tips include wearing a helmet, slowing down for pedestrians, making sure you’re following the rules of road or sidewalks and discouraging intoxicated riding.
“We want to be visible in the community because we know people have questions and we want to make sure that people know who to contact, how to get a hold of us and obviously how to ride safely,” he said.
“Obviously being local, we want to be a face in the community. So people know that it’s not just some faceless entity and there are people associated with it that care about the community, that live in the community and do business in the community, that work here, have kids that play sports here. So that’s really important to me.”
Just general questions such as how does the program work, how do I sign up, how does the app work were asked on the day.
More information can be found on the Neuron app.
“It’s been great,” said Bohn, on the reception in Lethbridge since the launch on April 8. Riders have scooted a total of 72,000 kilometres since the launch.
“Trips around downtown and local parks are proving to be popular routes with Henderson Park, Galt Gardens and Nicholas Sheran Park being hot spots for riders to start and end their journeys, added Gwen McGuire, Neuron representative.
There were 1,500 Canadian adults who took a poll conducted on behalf of Neuron and results showed that one-in three feel the roads today are less safe for pedestrians compared to five years ago, 18 per cent agreed that safety has improved during the same time period, 47 per cent thought the greatest pedestrian safety concerns came from passenger vehicles such as cars while delivery trucks were at 17 per cent of a hazard and bicycles sat at 12 per cent of a risk.
“Although significantly fewer Canadians were concerned by e-scooters (four per cent) and e-bikes (three per cent), Neuron, with assistance from their national safety partner the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), has kicked off a safety campaign which recognizes pedestrian concerns,” as read in a release.
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