New e-scooter safety campaign

Beam has launched a new e-scooter safety campaign across New Zealand for Global Road Safety Week (May 15-21) aiming to educate all e-scooter riders on the safest way to ride.

Reminding all riders that even the safest rides require a safer rider and encouraging more New Zealanders to join in the discussion around safer roads, Beam’s campaign runs digitally across social media, the Beam app, all Beam’s channels, – reiterating its six key riding rules.

These include wearing a helmet, not using a phone while riding, giving way to pedestrians, not drinking then riding, not sharing the e-scooter (one rider per vehicle) and parking responsibly after use.

Beam is increasing its on-the-ground staff during Global Road Safety Week to enforce proper riding, educate riders on the riding rules in their city, and help new riders with their first trips.

A three strikes policy will be in place, with riders risking being barred from the app for repeated rule-breaking.

“Through constant innovation and investment in bringing new technology such as footpath detection, drink-riding deterrence tests and other industry-firsts to New Zealand, we are consistently breaking new ground with e-scooter safety and enforcement,” says Beam ANZ general manager Tom Cooper.

“However, every e-scooter requires an even safer rider, which is why we invest equally in our education programs, focusing not just on those who ride on one of our purple e-scooters, but also those riding on other shared e-scooters and on privately-owned e-scooters,” he explains.

“E-scooter riders using a city’s shared spaces well and being responsible not only for themselves but for others is a big contributor to micromobility being increasingly a part of how New Zealanders move around the places they live and work.”

Cooper suggests every rider take five minutes to refresh themselves on the riding rules in their city, and contribute to making their streets a safer space for all.

The Beam Safe Academy is live in every city Beam operates in and is aimed at educating riders on local riding rules and safe handling of e-scooters.

It includes an in-app safety briefing featuring instructions on how to park and ride safely, an in-app Beam Safety Quiz educating riders on the riding rules with free credits offered to encourage rider education, Beam Safety Ambassadors patrolling high-traffic areas to promote safe riding and parking, the three-strikes policy, and regular safety events targeting all e-scooter riders.

Beam says it has more than 5.3 million carbon neutral kilometres travelled across New Zealand to date.