Lime, the micromobility company that’s flooded the streets of more than 100 cities around the world with fleets of green-and-white electric scooters, launched a Public Policy and Safety Advisory Board last week. The group, which convened for the first time at a safety summit in San Francisco, is tasked with determining what research and policy initiatives to pursue, what regulations to advocate for, and how to generally smooth the company’s sometimes-bumpy relationships with cities, riders, and riders-to-be.
Lime’s announcement reflects a growing acknowledgement within the e-scooter rental industry that safety concerns present a major barrier to mass adoption. Shared e-scooter and bicycle trips in the U.S. more than doubled last year to reach 84 million, but companies face fresh regulatory pushback amid reports of vehicle malfunctions, incidents of rider misbehavior, and the industry’s often-chaotic roll-out. Several high-profile safety studies have emerged: Consumer Reports recorded 1,500 scooter-related injuries in the U.S. in 2018. Researchers in Santa Monica found that scooter injuries landed people in the hospital about 50 more times than bike accidents in the same year-long period. And a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that for every 100,000 trips taken in an Austin scooter pilot, 20 individuals were injured.
The biggest risk factors, the CDC found, were lack of helmet use, infrastructure issues like potholes and lack of protected lan ..
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