Erik Kantar

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After a long dreary month of no blue scooters parked along Brooklyn streets and no breezy, sunset joy rides, Revel is back –– and safer than ever.

The electric-scooter-share company announced new safety initiatives to riders on Thursday morning, including updates to their app and the development of a free safety lessons program. 

The updates are to address safety concerns brought up by Mayor de Blasio after two fatal accidents occurred in July. Revel has since worked with behavioral and transportation experts to improve the ride sharing apps safety protocols.

Revel riders are mandated to watch several instructional videos before riding. Users must also take a photo of themselves wearing a helmet to unlock the moped, and take a 20-minute, 21-question-long safety test in the app to be approved to ride –– an educational improvement to the previous system, which only required a photo of a drivers license, a selfie, and a dream to feel the wind in your hair for a modest fee. 

Revel claims that the free lessons create an accessible solution to new riders who may feel wary hoppin’ on hogs that can reach thirty miles per hour on New York City streets. “Like anything else, Reveling is a skill. The more you practice the better you get,” read the new update’s release. 

Riding lessons will be offered in the four NYC boroughs where Revels are available, seven days a week, focusing on basic techniques for operating mopeds while promoting rider safety within the Revel community.

Revel has also implemented additional safety monitoring tools to the app, including a system to automatically detect when a rider enters a park, travels the wrong way down a one-way street, or crosses a prohibited bridge or tunnel, which are all against Revel policy. If you so happen to be among the rogue Revel riders, you’ll be flagged, and temporarily or permanently suspended. 

As an added layer of security, you’ll also find that Revel users and non-users can report improper or dangerous ridership through the app and website. Each submission will be reviewed and assessed by the Revel team, where similar disciplinary action can be taken. 

“Yeah, the days of ripping it through Maria Hernandez with the skaters are over, but hey, whatever it takes to keep Revel for good,” said Brandon Handen, a Brooklyn based Revel frequenter. 

The added safety changes arive amid public safety concerns after three collisions resulted in deaths in July –– all of which involved helmetless riders. In the wake of the tragic accidents, Mayor de Blasio stated that Revel would not be welcomed back in New York unless the scooter-share service found a way to “make the service safe”. 

“If folks are using something that in many ways is like a motorcycle without having to have a license, it stands to reason it’s going to put people in harm’s way,” said de Blasio at a daily press briefing.

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