Bird, a leader in micro-mobility, and Drinkaware, the national charity working to prevent alcohol misuse in Ireland, and have urged people not to drink and ride.
The pair today announced plans to roll out a public awareness campaign as soon e-scooters are legalised for use on public roads by the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021.
The campaign will aim to encourage the Irish public to adopt a safety-first approach to riding e-bikes and e-scooters, and will complement the draft legislation, which sets out fines of up to €2,000 for the consumption of alcohol while using such vehicles.
Campaign imagery encouraging safe riding will soon be visible in cities and towns across Ireland. In conjunction with this, Bird plans to roll-out its Safe Start feature as soon as it launches services in Ireland.
Image via CanvaThis in-app ‘checkpoint’ is designed to discourage people from riding under the influence and is already used by its riders all over the world. Between the hours of 10pm and 4am, riders attempting to unlock a Bird e-scooter or e-bike will be asked to verify that they can safely handle the vehicle by correctly entering a keyword into the app.
International data attests to the popularity and safety of e-scooters and e-bikes, and continues to show that cars remain the biggest threat to Irish road users, with a documented incident rate of 1 in 20,000 trips.
Bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters have a documented incident rate involving medical treatment of less than 1 in 50,000 trips, but research shows that up to 30% of all cyclist accidents involve alcohol.
