Bird electric scooter: – New technology will stop the electric scooter

There are several rules for electric scooters, and one of them is that you can not ride at a speed above 20 km / h.

You can drive on pedestrian / bicycle paths and sidewalks here in Norway, as long as there are not many pedestrians and other road users there. When driving here, you must show consideration for pedestrians by adjusting your speed and keeping your distance.

– Six kilometers is the maximum speed you can have on an electric scooter and bicycle when you pass a pedestrian, points out senior adviser at Trygg Trafikk, Bård Morten Johansen to Dinside.

The electric vehicle company Bird is now taking action with new technology, which will prevent people from driving on the pavement, which is banned in several countries.

Uses GPS

The electric scooter will detect the pavement a few centimeters before you hit it, says Scott Rushfort, who is head of vehicles at Bird.

– But how will it work in practice?

“Typical GPS solutions can experience data delays of up to 15 seconds, but Bird’s built-in vehicle sensor is capable of updating GPS signals 200 times per second,” he explains.

When a Bird vehicle approaches a curb, the vehicle should stop carefully to avoid creating a shocking or dangerous experience for the rider.

– All solutions that can contribute to a regulation in the right direction are good, both for safety, experience and general safety. That technology will be able to help us quite a lot, as we are usually not so good at calculating speed ourselves, says Johansen in Trygg Trafikk.

Many are fined here

Legal in Norway

In principle, it is allowed to cycle and use an electric scooter on sidewalks in Norway, which is one of the few countries that allows it. Therefore, it can be a bit problematic to create a solution that does not allow legal behavior, Johansen believes.

– At the same time, the elevation is very good, as there are basically a number of conflicts on the sidewalks, he says.

Currently, the most important safety function we currently have is that the renters of scooters can slow down in certain areas, including on sidewalks.

– It is a geofencing solution, where the electric scooters are connected to digital maps. However, it does not recognize sidewalks, but it recognizes the position, so it means that the landlord can decide that the speed should go down on different sidewalks, says Johansen.

Gets over 100,000 more expensive

Have solutions in place

Country manager for Tier in Norway, Morten Askeland, tells Dinside that Tier also works with technology to recognize and prevent driving on sidewalks.

– We already have technical solutions in place, which will be tested in markets where driving on sidewalks is prohibited, he says.

Right now Bird is testing the solution in Milwaukee and San Diego, and early in 2022 they will start testing in Madrid, so it does not look like it will be a function here in Norway right away.

–