Stricter pace limits could be pushing electrical scooter vacationers onto the sidewalks, a brand new examine from the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security suggests.

The nonprofit analysis group in contrast scooter use in Austin, Texas, the place the pace restrict for scooter journey is 20 mph, and Washington D.C., the place it’s 10 mph. The place bike lanes aren’t current, D.C. riders had been 44 p.c extra more likely to enterprise off the streets and onto the sidewalk than in Austin. This was true even when highway visitors was heavier in Austin and when pedestrian and bike owner populations had been denser in D.C.

Scooters discover themselves within the quickly evolving discipline of micromobility, the place riders are negotiating modes of journey which can be slower than conventional autos however sooner than pedestrian foot visitors. The distinction in pace in each conditions presents issues, Jessica Cicchino, creator of the IIHS examine, instructed Automotive Information. A separate IIHS examine in D.C. discovered that whereas scooter accidents are extra extreme on the roads, accidents are commonest on the sidewalks.

Cities and scooter corporations discover themselves negotiating this “trade-off,” with lots of the security implications of latest rules nonetheless unclear, Cicchino mentioned. Automotive-centric city planning has posed a problem throughout the micromobility sector and specialists imagine expanded scooter and e-bike use would require rethinking transportation and infrastructure.

Creating alternatives for scooter riders to journey alongside these transferring at an identical pace, similar to cyclists, is one other potential technique to restrict unsafe interactions, Cicchino mentioned. IIHS’ pace restrict examine discovered that 80 p.c of e-scooter riders in each cities selected to make use of a motorcycle lane when it was obtainable.

“The extra susceptible highway customers that you’ve got which may work together with vehicles, the extra necessary it’s to design roads in ways in which make it tougher to hurry, to have extra visitors calming or have pace limits which can be acceptable for everyone who’s utilizing the highway,” Cicchino mentioned.

The e-scooter sector has been hit arduous lately by security issues, similar to brake failures and collisions. Battery fires particularly have elevated in frequency and hazard, prompting laws such because the Setting Shopper Requirements for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act, which might develop security requirements.

The IIHS examine discovered that whereas pace limits drove e-scooter riders onto sidewalks, they had been considerably efficient at limiting the speeds on these pedestrian paths. Twice the variety of riders in Austin had been recorded touring at or over 10 mph on sidewalks than in D.C. This was in contrast with sidewalk scooter bans, which the examine famous have been discovered to be solely marginally efficient.

Security issues have prompted not solely cities however corporations themselves to behave. Fowl has rolled out precision-parking and component-checking {hardware}, whereas Fowl, Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian all advocate a 15 mph pace restrict for e-scooters be enacted by their partnering cities.

Geofencing is one other technique corporations are using, a expertise that makes use of GPS to restrict the place e-scooters can function and how briskly, Cicchino mentioned. An evolving department of this technique, famous by the IIHS examine, hopes to detect sidewalk driving and routinely lower speeds, although these strategies are nonetheless in improvement.

Cicchino acknowledges potential on this expertise and concludes within the examine that it “might make pace restrictions an unqualified win for security, reasonably than a trade-off.”