The use of electric transport, no doubt, very useful and progressive technology. Especially if we are talking about compact vehicles like scooters designed to relieve the road. However, the use of new vehicles has only positive aspects. For example, in Santa Monica (CA), Segways have become the real cause of the road collapse.
We are talking about Segways Bird, which, as reported, for the first 5 weeks of 2018 became the reason of 281 of a traffic accident, led to 97 lawsuits and repeated ambulance calls about falls off.
Such a sharp increase in accidents is due to the fact that the residents of Santa Monica in 2018 massively abandoned cars and buses to Segways Bird. And it happened due to the fact that in California earned a new hire with most of these scooters (which operates on the principle of the increasingly popular car-share). Charge scooter Bird enjoy up to 15 hours of use, and the rent will have to pay only 1 dollar and 15 cents for every mile.
Mass distribution have contributed to and easy to use: you simply download the app on your smartphone, register, snap a map, indicate driver’s license number and all. The program will indicate on the map the location of the nearest free scooter. Then you need to scan on the scooter special QR code to pay, and you can hit the road. The evening employees are looking for free scooters to put them on charge.
On paper it sounds nice, but the city’s infrastructure was simply not ready for such a service. In addition to the above problems, many users run the scooter under the influence, not using helmet and walk on the sidewalks (which is prohibited by local law). But that’s not all: because Segways do not have a Parking space, people block entrances to the ramps and throw the scooters on sidewalks and near benches that is impeding pedestrians, the disabled and the elderly. Authorities in Santa Monica have even decided to ban the company’s Bird to pursue their activities as long as the city does not appear appropriate infrastructure and the firm will not be permitted. But the head of Travis Vanderzanden believes that there was a simple miscommunication.
“The authorities are offering us to obtain a permit for vending, which is necessary for the operation of food trucks. But we’re not selling anything on their scooters. Such misunderstandings occur because the existing legislation does not keep pace with the rapid development of technology.”
Segways have become a cause of the road collapse in California
Vladimir Kuznetsov