Dangers at Dusk: Increasing Safety on City Streets Through Innovation
By Alex Keating, Director of Partnership and Public Policy, Veo
The silent shift of daylight savings time catches a lot of us by surprise. Suddenly it’s dark on the commute home, or even worse — dusk. Dusk significantly increases danger to pedestrians, cyclists, scooter riders, and frankly everyone, as driver’s visibility drops tenfold as the sun sets.* The #magichour has a dark side, especially at this time of year. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from choosing the zero-carbon travel option, which is part of what drives innovation at Veo. We see every dilemma as a puzzle, and this year we are proud to present a few features of the Astro scooter that addresses this one specifically.
The Astro is our classic standing scooter, but what makes it classic to us sets it apart from the rest. People remark “Wow! The underdeck lighting is so bright!” That is because it is meant to be seen when it matters most. The bright blue LED lighting illuminates the ground beneath the scooter as you ride, making the rider more noticeable to others.
What’s even more invaluable is that the scooter features the industry’s first integrated, high visibility turn signals. The easy-touch button and flashing blinkers allow scooter riders to signal a turn without having to take their hand off the handlebars. Reflective even when not signaling, the bright flashing turn signals bring that extra flare of attention to scooters when visibility is low.
Signaling turns is required and important rider behavior — but without Veo’s turn signals, scooter riders have to take a hand off the wheel — which proves to be dangerous for some. Integrating turn signals to be a part of the handlebars significantly improves rider safety on city streets.
So, while more pedestrians are killed during dusk than any other time,* innovations like ours can help fight against that trend, at least among scooter riders. Eliminating traffic-related deaths in our cities is an immense undertaking and requires ambitious engineering, education, and enforcement solutions and bold leadership from mayors and planning officials across the country. While many of these solutions take years to implement, there is no reason we can’t all do our part to shine a light on the issues and make mobility a little safer today. So for now, keep your hands on the handlebar, a helmet on your head, and we’ll see you out there!
