[16 December 2024] Beam riders across Australia and New Zealand are being called to summer smart, with Beam launching a safety campaign ahead of the holiday season to support safe riding over the peak summer months.

As e-scooter use continues to grow in popularity, with shared micromobility providing transport connections to both a city’s residents and visitors, data shows trips in a city increases by approximately 20-30% during the summer months in Australia and New Zealand.

With thousands of brand-new riders choosing to ride an e-scooter for the first time, Beam’s annual summer safety campaign, running digitally and in-app, focuses on reminding riders of key riding rules:

• It’s illegal to drink and ride. 
• Wearing a helmet is mandatory in Australia. Whilst it is not mandatory in New Zealand, it is strongly recommended. Use the helmet provided with your Beam e-scooter or e-bike. 
• Put your phone away while riding - Just like when driving a car, it’s illegal to use your phone whilst riding an e-scooter.
• No tandem riding - Stick to one person on an e-scooter.
• Park responsibly, with your e-scooter parked kerbside.

In addition, Beam’s flagship rider education and enforcement program, the Beam Safe Academy, is in place 24/7, including:

• A pre-trip in-app safety briefing for every rider, featuring instructions on how to park and ride safely, and information about local riding legislation 
• An in-app Beam Safety Quiz educating riders on the riding rules, with free credits offered to encourage rider education
• A three-strikes policy is in place in every city, with riders facing suspension and permanent bans for bad riding and parking offences

Beam also invests in technology to deter and prevent improper riding behaviour, including the region’s first cognitive-backed drink riding deterrence test, ‘Rider Check’. 

Beam’s Rider Check requires riders to take a quick image-based test that tests their cognitive reaction time prior to a trip commencing, with riders directed to choose an alternate mode of transport like a bus or taxi should they fail the test. 

Beam has also introduced AI-backed parking compliance technology across its e-scooter fleet, with riders’ end-trip photos audited to ensure parking compliance. 

With Beam committed to safer roads for all through education, enforcement and technology-backed solutions, Beam calls on riders to do their part, and ride safely and responsibly this season.