Bird Scooters Now Automatically Slow in High-Activity Areas

As Shannon Connellan reports, Bird is instituting "Community Safety Zones, geofenced areas of high-pedestrian activity clearly marked in the app's map" where "your maximum speed will be automatically reduced to 8 miles per hour." This "much-needed move" will first apply in busy areas such as schools and hospitals "in Miami, Marseille, and Madrid first, then expanding to the other 250 cities where Bird is available." The change follows "the long-studied dangers of riding e-scooters for riders and pedestrians — e-scooter related injuries are no joke, and that significantly goes for pedestrians. Bird's e-scooters' top speeds range from 16 miles (25 kilometres) per hour for the Bird Air to 18 miles (28 kilometres) per hour for the Bird One."

This is "the latest safety push from Bird, with the company recently making it harder to scoot under the influence with its 'Safe Start' feature. Launched in July, the feature makes users wanting to access scooters in late-night hours have to pass a keyword typing test to avoid scooting after drinking."

Years after Bird disrupted the shared mobility industry with "dockless" scooters that skirted city regulations, Jenn Fox of the Vision Zero Network, a worldwide road traffic safety campaign, says "Bird’s Safe Start and Community Safety Zones are an example of technology initiatives that can support safe systems, respond to community concerns and solve mobility challenges at the same time."