Thursday, August 5, 2021

Bird Puts Brakes On Speed Demons With New Safety Zones

Santa Monica-based micromobility provider Bird says that it has rolled out a new feature, "Bird Community Safety Zones", in an attempt to provide better protection for pedestrian encounters with its scooters. According to Bird, the new zones will automatically reduce maximum allowable speeds of its scooters to 8 MPH, and trigger an in-app message to explain the reason for deceleration. Bird says the zones will initially be in centers of high pedestrian activity, starting with schools. Bird also said it plans to pilot those zones first in Miami, Marseille, and Madrid, with eventual rollout to the rest of its cities.