Revel moped (Wikipedia) Arun D CC by 2.0
July 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin
The moped-sharing company Revel has shut down its service in New York City today after a second fatal crash occurred in ten days.
Revel announced it would shut down service in the city until further notice just hours after a 32-year-old man died by crashing a Revel scooter into a lamppost in Rego Park early this morning.
“We’re reviewing and strengthening our rider accountability and safety measures and communicating with city officials, and we look forward to serving you again in the near future,” the company posted on Twitter.
New York riders – starting today, NYC service will be shut down until further notice. We’re reviewing and strengthening our rider accountability and safety measures and communicating with city officials, and we look forward to serving you again in the near future.
— Revel (@_GoRevel) July 28, 2020
The Brooklyn man’s death follows the death of local New York City reporter Nina Kapur on July 18.
Kapur was a passenger on a Revel scooter driven by a 26-year-old man when she was killed. The driver reportedly swerved, which caused both people to be thrown from the moped, police said.
Kapur, 26, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She is believed to be the first Revel rider to die in New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city talked with the CEO of Revel this morning about the uptick in fatal crashes.
“We’ve had two fatalities in [about] a week,” he said at a morning press briefing. “This is an unacceptable state of affairs.”
The city made clear to Revel that the situation is unsatisfactory and unacceptable, he said.
“We will not allow them to reopen unless we are convinced it can be done safely,” de Blasio said.
The city will work with the rideshare company to improve its safety, he added.
Revel first launched in three Brooklyn neighborhoods in 2018 and expanded throughout Brooklyn and Queens last year. In March, the company brought its scooters to Manhattan.
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14 Comments
Should have never been allowed. Unsafe and not sanitary.
Never thought this would end well. And it didn’t.
It’s amazing to see the Queens Streets folks opportunistically try to spin this tragedy in their favor. All while spreading misinformation about clear rules of the road (and grammar).
“We are not anti-scooter. We are not anti-bicycle. But it hard to figure out reasoning not just about street closures, but what is and not permitted on city streets and in what lanes. Currently, motorized two wheelers are allowed in the bike and street lanes. We are for fairness, safety for all, and transparency of legislation, and clearer classifications of the different vehicles.”
So let’s pick this apart. Firstly, if you need to open with those first two sentences, then you have to know that they’re lies. It’s akin to starting with “I don’t mean to sound racist, but…” you just need to stop talking at that point because you have nothing good to say.
Second, if you don’t know that scooters are utterly and completely illegal in bike lanes, then simply don’t say that they are. This is another ignorant and malicious lie by a bad actor that has been repeatedly spreading misinformation in their community for political ends. These lies literally undermine safety.
And finally, you clearly are not for “safety for all” when your entire existence is based upon actively trying to remove a transparently successful street safety improvement in your neighborhood.
Those five sentences are really a perfect microcosm of Queens Streets for All. It’s such a shame because you get the idea in some of their rambling posts that they begrudgingly understand that they’re totally wrong, yet for years on end they shamelessly try to manipulate the system to get what they want. All while undermining “safety for all.” Do they seriously not understand they’re doing this?
Dude. We asked for a comment, not Tolstoy.
They really need to do something to diversify the program if they bring them back. They became dangerous toys for mostly young white men to cause fear for residents in minority neighborhoods especially for the elderly.
Stay on topic! Stop making everything about being racial equality!!!
So then it appears that your solution is to make them dangerous toys for young black men as well, who can add additional fear in the districts where they practiced Affirmative Shopping (Fifth Avenue, Greene Street, to name just two).
I am so glad my grandson will not be using them when he visits.
And how many bikers have died ?
I hope they were both tested for covid 19 during the autopsy. Covid 19 can affect brain function. I know i was in a fog for about a week. I still do not have my sense of smell and taste back. I worry.
Everyone should just go back to riding bikes including food delivery people. Scooters are dangerous and they often ride them on sidewalks and laugh at elderly and children trying to get out of the way.
Thank God I saw three users with those and none of them wore the helmets.
This is how you solve a problem.
How many bikers are without helmets ?
Stay on topic.