Micromobility operators in the UK are running their own safety campaigns inspired by the charity Brake’s Road Safety Week.
This year’s theme is “Safe Roads For All” and aims to bring communities and professionals together to shout out for everyone’s right to have safe and healthy journeys on safe roads.
Brake Chief Executive Mary Williams OBE told Zag Daily: “Road Safety Week is an opportunity for everyone – particularly drivers, and also employers and community leaders – to come together and make roads safe for all, particularly the most vulnerable. Drivers can slow down and give people space. Employers can implement safe driving policies for their employees. Community leaders can work with their local authorities for measures that protect people, such as cycle paths. Road casualties are an appalling carnage that can and must end, through us all taking the right steps.”
To support the cause, Voi is hosting a safety webinar tomorrow and held an in-person event in Birmingham yesterday where the company handed out reflective gear and helmets aimed at improving user visibility during the darker winter months.
One of the biggest barriers to using e-scooters is night-time safety, according to Voi’s research.
“Road Safety Week is a culmination of our hard work throughout the year to deliver on our ‘Vision Zero’ ambition,” Voi’s Head of Public Policy for UK and Ireland, Matthew Pencharz, told Zag.
“By educating thousands of riders, distributing even more helmets, and working closely with our cities, in 2022, we and our riders are helping to deliver better places to live.”
Last year, 1,608 people were killed and 26,701 were seriously injured on UK roads, up 15% on 2020, according to Brakes statistics based on data published by the Department for Transport and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Most of the casualties involved car occupants (10,384), motorcycle users (5,574) and pedestrians (5,393), while 111 cyclists were killed and 4,353 were injured in the UK in 2021.
The operator Zwings is also running safety campaigns this week to further educate its users and non-users.
Stephen Bee, Zwings’ Chief Operating Officer, told Zag that Road Safety Week is an important campaign that highlights the need for Safe Roads for All, in particular vulnerable road users including e-scooter riders.
“At Zwings, we work with charities RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust to design and improve our e-scooter schemes to make them more inclusive of vulnerable road users. We are also educating our riders through in person and online training to make them safer on the roads.”
