- Neuron Mobility and leading Canadian road safety charity, the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, partner to promote e-scooter safety across Canada
- The partnership includes input on Neuron’s rider education materials, co-development of safety campaigns, and analysis of Neuron’s safety data
- TIRF works with governments and stakeholders across Canada to make roads safer and reduce road deaths and injuries. Their research influences legislation, program and policy development, enforcement, health, education, and training across many sectors
- Neuron’s safety-leading e-scooters have an impressive range of world firsts and pioneering safety features including: geofencing control, integrated helmets, a 911 emergency button, bilingual voice guidance, topple detection and ‘Follow my Ride’
- Last month Neuron began a trial in Ottawa, a first for Canada, adding an always-on warning sound to their e- scooters to alert pedestrians, particularly those in the sight-loss community, that an e-scooter is approaching.
OTTAWA, Sept. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuron Mobility, Canada’s fastest-growing e-scooter operator, has announced a partnership with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), which will lead the way in best practices for shared e-scooter programs and safety across the country.
Established as a registered charity, TIRF is an independent road safety research institute that works with governments and stakeholders across Canada to make roads safer and reduce road deaths and injuries. It is a world leader in research, program and policy development, evaluation, and knowledge transfer.
This partnership marks an important step forward to ensure shared e-scooter programmes are matched with rigorous user education, particularly as more Canadian cities adopt this new mode of transport.
As part of the partnership, TIRF is collaborating with Neuron and co-developing campaigns and activities to promote rider safety in Canada. They are also reviewing and providing input on Neuron’s rider education materials as well as analysing Neuron’s safety data. Together, the partners will co-launch safety campaigns built on these activities.
Zachary Wang, CEO of Neuron Mobility, said: “Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Neuron so we are delighted to partner with TIRF, the leaders in road safety research in Canada. We share a common goal to keep people safe and prevent injuries on the road. We are excited to work together on a range of initiatives, particularly those that help educate riders how to enjoy e-scooters in a safe and responsible way.”
He continued: “This year we’ve been rolling out ScootSafe campaigns with our safety ambassadors on the ground to remind people of the rules and top safety tips and guidelines. We’ve introduced our in-app safety school, and have been incentivising helmet use. We’ve also launched an always-on warning noise on e-scooters in Ottawa to alert pedestrians, particularly those in the sight-loss community. We are really excited about the partnership with TIRF, which is the next step in maintaining Neuron’s role as a safety leader in Canada.”
Robyn Robertson, President & CEO, TIRF, said: “Micromobility is an important road safety issue and we are delighted to partner with Neuron and look forward to this partnership to promote e-scooter safety in Canada. Neuron’s core focus on safety and data collection to inform educational campaigns, as well as their willingness to introduce new features and best practice approaches to educate their riders, makes them a natural fit for us.”
She continued: “E-scooters provide a sustainable, and accessible alternative form of transport that can help to reduce congestion and emissions. As more Canadian cities embrace this new form of transport, we look forward to working together to educate the public about ways to scoot safely and to encourage infrastructure improvements to protect riders. Most importantly, we want to urge riders to share the road and adopt safe habits and strategies including wearing the helmet on scooters provided by Neuron, avoiding distractions and not drinking and riding. Wearing a helmet on even the shortest trip is strongly recommended to protect the rider.”
Neuron has already shown itself to be the industry leader in safety and has introduced an impressive number of innovative world firsts and pioneering features to the e-scooter market.
Neuron launched the world’s first app-controlled helmet lock, which secures a helmet to every e-scooter in between trips, preventing helmets being discarded or stolen, and increasing usage among riders. Other features include topple detection that detects if an e-scooter has been left on its side, which then alerts an operations team to reposition it safely; a 911 emergency button which can tell if someone has had a fall and helps the rider call the emergency services, and bilingual voice guidance to educate and warn riders on how to ride safely. A ‘Follow my Ride’ function allows the rider’s friends and family to track an e-scooter trip in real time for added safety and peace of mind.
The combination of GPS and geofencing technology, pioneered by Neuron, allows city programs to dictate and manage where e-scooters can be ridden and parked, and how fast they can travel in different areas. This technology is used to create ‘slow zones’, where maximum riding speeds are automatically reduced, such as near a school. It can also be used to create ‘no-go’ zones and ‘no parking’ zones, giving cities the power to control the travel of e-scooters through a particular area, and to determine where they are allowed to be left.
Globally and across Canada, on average 45% of all rental e-scooter trips are replacing car journeys. This reduces congestion and carbon emissions which supports cities’ sustainability goals. The integration of shared e-scooters into cities is proving to increase traffic to small businesses and tourism hubs which in turn is boosting local economies. E-scooters are also extending existing transport networks.
About Neuron Mobility
Neuron, Australia and New Zealand’s leading e-scooter operator, differentiates by being the best partner to cities while also leading the industry when it comes to safety and sustainable operations. Founded in Singapore in 2016, the company has introduced an impressive number of industry world firsts and pioneering innovations including e-scooter battery swapping, geofencing control and integrated helmets. Neuron operates in 12 locations in Australia and New Zealand including Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide, Canberra, Townsville, Bundaberg, Auckland and Dunedin. The company also launched in the United Kingdom during 2020 and in South Korea in 2021. Neuron announced its arrival into the Canadian market in May and has since won licences to operate in Ottawa, Calgary, Red Deer and Vernon. For more information, visit: https://www.rideneuron.com
About TIRF
Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) is an independent, charitable road safety research institute. The vision of TIRF is to ensure people using roads make it home safely every day by eliminating road deaths, serious injuries and their social costs. TIRF’s mission is to be the knowledge source for safer road users and a world leader in research, program and policy development, evaluation, and knowledge transfer. TIRF is a registered charity and depends on grants, awards, and donations to provide services for the public. Visit www.tirf.ca.
For Media Enquiries
Argyle Communications:
Julia Jolly, Argyle
jjolly@argylepr.com
(416) 936-9714
Neuron Mobility:
Gwen McGuire, Neuron Mobility
gwen.mcguire@neuron.sg
Traffic Injury Research Foundation:
Karen Bowman, Director, Marketing & Communications
karenb@tirf.ca
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f8849de-cab7-4aa2-a9b8-8476ce84905d
