Shared mobility company Bolt is targeting unsafe riding habits on e-scooters through the launch of a new initiative: the Reckless Rider Score.
A few years back, the arrival of e-scooters in Belgium was hailed as the mobility solution in cities. Since then, they have instead become a source of nuisance and inconvenience to many, from poor parking to speeding or drunk-riding. New rules on their use were introduced last summer, but many riders are still not aware of the changes.
To tackle the reckless behaviour and the violation of regulations, Bolt has announced its own evaluation system that assesses users' behaviour as part of its Scooter Safety Pledge, a document listing safety commitments when using the service.
"Shared micromobility has significant potential to reduce car trips in our cities," Alexis Hiernaux, micromobility expert at Bolt, said.
"To achieve this potential, we need to focus on safety. This approach can maximise user confidence in shared e-scooters as a new mode of transport and give cities the confidence to establish long-term partnerships with providers," he added.
Limited speeds and suspension
The Reckless Rider Score is scoring system, developed by Bolt, that evaluates a user's driving behaviour based on a number of factors collected from the Bolt-steps' features and sensors. For example, it can detect when two people are on an e-scooter, as well as frequent abrupt braking and skidding, collisions and "illegal" parking.
The messages that will appear when a user falls in the 2% of the most reckless customers. Credit: Bolt
"Every five trips, the system assigns points to each of these issues and assesses the user's driving behaviour," the company explained in a statement. "If a user falls in the 2% of the most reckless customers in a given city, Bolt will impose measures as part of its three-step policy," Hiernaux explained.
Firstly, Bolt will share interactive educational materials with reckless drivers to raise awareness of the dangers of this behaviour. If riders do not improve their behaviour during the next five trips, their scooter speed will be limited to 15 km/h for the five trips after that.
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"If those first two measures do not improve, we will suspend users for a week with the option to appeal to Bolt's customer service department," Hiernaux said.
Bolt has also pledged to further scale up its alcohol prevention test, as one in three shared e-scooter accidents involved the consumption of alcohol. The company also claims it is working with cities to create safe conditions for micromobility users.
