美文网首页经济学人
【经济学人】Electric-scooter startups

【经济学人】Electric-scooter startups

作者: 52e47f71698a | 来源:发表于2019-06-07 10:44 被阅读1次

    Growing up

    Electric-scooter startups are becoming more cautious

    They are paying more attention to regulations and norms of road use

     

    On may 29th electric scooters began legally to glide down cycle lanes in the Swedish city of Helsingborg. The next day a rider collided with a car and died. The Swedish Transport Authority immediately called for a ban on the devices. The incident highlights the riskiness of the vehicles—and of the fast-growing micromobility business around the world.


    Motorised versions of children’s kick scooters are notoriously unsafe. Their silent motors catch pedestrians and other road users unawares. A study by the Portland Bureau of Transportation concluded that e-scooters get into accidents 22 times as often as cars do, and 44 times as often as motorbikes. Another, by the city of Austin, found that one in three users is hurt on their first go. They are also increasingly unwelcome. Abandoned dockless devices obstruct pavements and doorways. In 2018 San Francisco temporarily banned them. The mayor of Nashville recently tweeted that the city’s experiment with them “is not working out”.

    In keeping with the startup credo of asking forgiveness rather than permission, firms often launched large e-scooter fleets without consulting local authorities, sometimes literally overnight. The backlash is making them rethink their approach. Bird, a two-year-old industry pioneer, has introduced a “GovTech platform” to let local authorities designate no-ride and no-park zones, set speed limits and display safety messages on scooter dashboards. voi of Sweden, whose scooter was involved in last week’s accident, accompanies launches with educational pop-ups. It is planning a “virtual traffic school” for novices.


    A big remaining obstacle is insurance. In Sweden scooters limited to 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour) are classified as bicycles and do not need motor-liability coverage. In some places, like Germany, authorities demand that micromobility startups take out such policies. Elsewhere, insurance is the responsibility of the renter. Like their customers, then, companies face a balancing act. Thom Rickert of Argo Group, an insurer, talks of a “complicated liability economy”. It could get more complicated soon. The latest craze is for even more dangerous-looking electric-powered skateboards.


    【六月份】经济学人

    Casting light on the Moon

    Improving robots’ grasp requires a new way to measure it in humans

    Donald Trump vows to use tariffs to punish Mexico

    Why managers should listen to shareholders

    Advertising may make people miserable

    Using sponges to census the ocean

    【五月份】经济学人

    Caster Semenya’s case sets a big precedent for women’s sport

    一篮子无形资产

    Shanahan is likely to be America’s next defence secretary

    How creepy is your smart speaker?

    Why women’s art sells at a discount

    Brewers at AB InBev need to rethink its strategy

    Amazon’s boss reckons that humanity needs an HQ2

    Climate change strikes the Venice Biennale

    Two books explore the evolutionary origins of morality

    “Furious Hours” is an ingenious double mystery

    Incumbency ain’t what it used to be

    The global battle over high drug prices

    The world is about to get a new way to measure itself

    3D printing makes it easier

    British politics after Theresa May

    Keeping children safe on the internet

    Facebook’s planned new currency based on a blockchain

    In “The Farm”, immigrants carry the super-rich’s babies

    推荐阅读:

    【历年张璐口译】2019总理记者会,张璐翻译的这些话真给力!

    公众号后台回复:

    "政府工作报告"|"资料"|"外交部金句"|"卢敏".......

    更多英汉注释政府报告:

    十九大完结

    19大词组及句子整理(百度网盘)

    2019政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释

    2018政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释


    2017政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释

    【中英对照全文】2019政府工作报告


    如果您感觉本文还不错或者对您有帮助,那请分享给您的朋友

    相关文章

      网友评论

        本文标题:【经济学人】Electric-scooter startups

        本文链接:https://www.haomeiwen.com/subject/asdmxctx.html