NEW YORK – NYPD is investigating a fatal accident involving a Revel scooter, two months after it was relaunched after a forced safety break from multiple deaths.
Police said Wednesday that a Sept. 29 accident on the Upper West Side, in which an 82-year-old woman was struck at a crosswalk and killed, involved a 23-year-old man riding a Revel scooter. The circumstances are still under investigation, the NYPD added.
Revel if relaunched in New York City in late August, just one month after he suspended his services due to three fatal accidents in 10 days. He was not immediately available to comment on the latest death.
“Electric moped sharing is an increasingly important part of New York’s transportation ecosystem, especially as COVID-19 has created a real need for socially distant modes,” Revel CEO Frank Reig said in a release. “Revel must face the same consideration for how it operates on the streets as any other part of the transportation system: commercial trucks, livery, private vehicle drivers and more. Of course, our condolences go out to the family of the person who passed away last month. As a New York born and raised company, we care deeply about the city and its people. That is why we are working so hard to make the streets of New York work better for the entire city and why we have introduced leading safety in the industry. protocols in all seven Revel markets. “
The company, which also operates in five other cities, previously said it made changes to security measures, including new features to confirm that users wear helmets before they are allowed to travel. Passengers must also complete a 21-question safety questionnaire, in which they must obtain a perfect score.
The company has also added GPS tracking to all 3,000 scooters it has on the streets of New York and will be able to tell if people are traveling in the wrong direction on a one-way street or in a park. Those who do will face immediate suspension.
Revel, the service that offers shared mopeds in several cities, suspends service in NYC following the second death of a cyclist this month.
The service closed in New York on July 28, hours after a fatal accident. City leaders made it clear that the company’s track record was “unacceptable” and that major changes were required before it could operate again.
Black and blue scooters require a driver’s license but not a motorcycle license, they had been seen as an alternative to taxis and the subway during the coronavirus pandemic. The company had seen nearly twice as many passengers since March.
Revel electric mopeds are limited to a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour. Published rules required bicyclists to wear a helmet, but that wasn’t always the case, as bicyclists were repeatedly seen without helmets since scooters arrived in 2018. Vehicles are also prohibited on sidewalks and in bike lanes. , and are intended for use on busy roads.
It continues to operate in Austin, Miami, Oakland and Washington DC.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said city officials spoke with Revel executives after the July 28 death and made it clear that the company’s safety record is “an unacceptable state of affairs.”
“When you see an incident, some incidents, it causes concern,” de Blasio said at the time. “Our people have been talking to Revel and making changes, but the bottom line is that there are not enough changes. This just got to be too much. “
City Transportation Department Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said the city negotiated new guidelines for the company, including the rule that motorcyclists and passengers must take and submit a selfie showing they are wearing a helmet.
“The theory of the selfie photo is that once you put your helmet on and take the photo, you most likely won’t take it off,” Trottenberg said.
Other new changes include the company not allowing travel between midnight and 5 a.m. for the first 60 days of the relaunch, as the city said too many crashes were occurring overnight. The new accident that the NYPD revealed on Wednesday occurred shortly before 7:30 a.m.
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