A person riding a Revel e-moped was struck and seriously injured by a livery vehicle in Brooklyn on Thursday evening.
This reporter was nearby and witnessed the immediate aftermath of the collision.
According to a police officer on the scene, a witness said the Revel moped rider "ate the red light," proceeding through an intersection against the light.
However, another witness, Margaret Bishop, said that the driver of the Toyota sedan, which had Taxi and Limousine Commission license plates and appeared to be operating as a ride-share vehicle, was speeding. It was driving on a street running perpendicular to the Revel rider.
"I saw the driver blow right through the intersection," Bishop said. "I think he was going 50 miles per hour."
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The speed limit on New York City streets is 25 miles per hour, unless otherwise marked. It was lowered from 30 miles per hour in 2014 as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature Vision Zero traffic safety campaign.
It was not clear whether the vehicle was engaged in a fare ride at the time of the collision. A TLC sticker on the car identified it as affiliated a livery base that operates Uber ride-share cars.
While shared standing e-scooters were legalized in parts of New York City in June, Revel's vehicles exist in a different vehicle class. The Revel scooters â which resemble Vespa scooters, rather than ubiquitous e-scooters like Lime and Bird â require a driver's license and are technically classified as mopeds by the New York DMV. However, they do not have pedals, and are speed-capped at 30 miles-per-hour, meaning riders do not need a special motorcycle license to drive them.
The victim, who was not immediately identified, was thrown from the Revel, which slid about 10 feet down the street. He landed face down on the street, and appeared to be unresponsive. He was bleeding from the face and head, and did not appear to have been wearing a helmet â it was not clear whether he had worn a helmet that had flown off of him during the impact, or whether he did not wear one.
He began to regain consciousness and opened his eyes about five minutes after the impact, just as responding firefighters were arriving. He appeared to be confused.
As the firefighters rendered aid, police arrived and began asking the assembled crowd for witnesses. As an ambulance with paramedics arrived several minutes later, the victim appeared to be more responsive, able to talk and articulate where he felt pain.
The victim's condition was not immediately clear. He was taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, according to a police officer on the scene.
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The incident encapsulates the risks as transit systems continue to evolve and intertwine with the mobility sharing economy in cities around the US.
Revel began piloting the shared Vespa scooter-style e-mopeds in select New York City neighborhoods in summer 2018 with 68 bikes. It announced an expansion in late May, 2019, and rolled out more than 1,000 units by early June.
The scooters can be unlocked via an app, and drivers are required to obey traffic laws. Each scooter comes with two helmets â one large and one small â and Revel says it requires riders to use them. The service says that helmets are cleaned every few days.
While risks involved with bicycling and riding scooters on New York City streets are obvious, the understated risk with services like Revel are that riders are often inexperienced driving that type of vehicle.
Although e-bikes have been a common sight on New York City streets for years, particularly among food delivery drivers â although the city says those bikes are not legal â the ubiquity of the Revel mopeds have raised safety concerns since anyone with a valid drivers licence can use one.
The same safety concerns permeate the expansion of standing e-scooters â studies have found a pronounced risk of severe head trauma from scooter accidents, and that as many as 66% of injured users were not wearing helmets.
While Revel offers operating and safety lessons, these are optional for users, and some users have reported a wait to get an appointment.
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It was not immediately clear whether this was the first major injury to a Revel or e-scooter rider in New York City since they rolled out. A cyclist has filed a lawsuit against Revel after a rider allegedly hit him in June.
Ride-hailing services like Uber, Lyft, Via, and others have been prominent in New York City for years. Unlike other locations, New York City requires ride-hailing drivers and cars to be licensed as livery vehicles through the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and registered with a base.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Revel said that the company is intent on ensuring rider safety:
We are aware of the unfortunate incident last night in Brooklyn involving a car and a rider. The details of the incident are not yet completely clear, but the safety of Revel riders is very important to us, which is why we verify riders have a safe driving history as part of our registration process, require all riders to use the helmets we provide at all times, follow all traffic laws, and we offer free lessons at our Gowanus headquarters. We will be investigating this further.
A spokesperson for Brooklyn Methodist hospital declined to comment on the victim's condition, while a spokesperson for the New York Police Department said there was no additional information available.
