A safety publicity campaign by e-scooter promoter Lime is a meaningless stunt, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety campaigner, says Lime’s problems can’t be solved by asking scooter users to behave.
“First of all, the science is quite clear: road safety ad campaigns aimed at changing behaviour almost never work.”
“Second, it's not just how these scooters are being ridden, it’s where they’re being ridden.”
“These scooters are sharing footpaths with vulnerable children, old and disabled people. Ongoing deaths and injuries are inevitable.”
Matthew-Wilson is equally concerned that e-scooters are being ridden, without helmets, on public roads.
“E-scooters are high, unstable and hard to see, especially in rain or bright sunlight. The riders aren’t obligated to wear a helmet, making them incredibly vulnerable in collisions with cars.”
Matthew-Wilson says he has no problem with e-scooters, but has big problems with the way they have been introduced.
“Lime has effectively dumped these products onto the market. Cities are not set up for e-scooters, meaning scooter riders, cyclists, pedestrians and cars are effectively in competition with each other.”
“These scooters are too dangerous to ride on the road and too dangerous to ride on footpaths. The only real solution is for e-scooters to have their own spaces, perhaps shared with ordinary bicycles. The engineering and rental of these spaces should be paid for by the company that is promoting them.”
Matthew-Wilson believes e-scooters should be banned until the promoters come up with a convincing plan for their use.
“Our cities need to be redesigned to cope with e-scooters, at the promoters’ expense.”
Matthew-Wilson adds:
“Motorbikes must meet a high standard before they’re allowed on our roads. There are strict controls over how and where motorbikes can be driven. That’s because motorbikes can easily kill innocent people. Why should e-scooters be treated any differently?”
