Revel’s electric mopeds return to NYC with new in-app safety test and mandatory helmet selfies

Revel has announced that it will launch its electric moped service in New York City today, with new protective features for riders such as a mandatory in-app safety test and a requirement for all riders to take a selfie of themselves wearing a helmet before wearing ‘Ll may ride. The company worked with the City of New York to develop the new security measures, and city officials have signed the new plan.

Revel suspended its service in late July after two customers were killed and one was critically injured while riding on the shared electric moped. At the time, the company had said it would “assess and strengthen our riders’ accountability and safety measures” in light of the accidents.

One of the biggest changes is a new, mandatory security test that has been added to the Revel app that all riders – if they have been using the service for years or are completely new to Revel – must continue before they can allow the mopeds. New York City customers must take the test immediately, while existing customers in Oakland, Austin and DC may drive without taking the test until September 1st.

Revel partnered with The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) to develop the test, which includes 21 questions about safety training, helmets, traffic laws, rules about where you can ride bikes, an instructional video, and more. The company is also expanding its free personal lessons across New York City – Revel will now offer more than 1,000 lessons per week across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, available to anyone with a Revel account to help new riders adjust to it platform,

Also new is a mandatory helmet selfie requirement: now, when you start a ride on a Revel in-app, only the helmet case on the back of the bike is unlocked. Only after you have submitted a selfie in which you (and a passenger, if you have one) wear helmets will the app then turn on to turn on moped. Revel will also be selling personalized helmets through its website for $ 35 (plus shipping and handling) in an effort to improve helmet use among customers who do not want to use the shared helmets.

Revel has also tightened its suspension policy. Share your account with everyone, drive with a passenger under 18, drive on a sidewalk, drive on a freeway or a road with a speed limit of over 40 km / h, or report an accident will all result in permanent the suspension. Driving without a helmet, running red lights or stop signs, driving in a cycle lane, on a large bridge or in a tunnel, in a park, the wrong way in a one-way street will result in warnings or temporary suspensions for the first violation, with permanent suspensions on subsequent violations.

Reckless driving (what Revel defines as “endangering danger or other motorists, wading in and out of traffic, driving through red lights, racing, doing wheelies or donuts, riding with more than one passenger,”) will also result in a temporary suspension.

To hold riders accountable for all of these rules, Revel also makes it easier for New Yorkers – whether they are Revel customers or not – to report bad behavior both in the Revel app and through an online reporting tool. The company has also added a new automated system that will detect when riders violate rules (such as entering a park or driving down a one-way street the wrong way).

Revel’s service is officially repeated in New York City over the four borough service area in which the company operates today. However, the company will discontinue service from 12:00 to 5:00 on a “pilot basis” for the first 60 days of its repeat operations in New York, as it continues to work with the NYC Department of Transportation to ensure safe night service .