Escooter company to use smart technology ahead of Irish launch

Micro mobility operator Dott is to use smart technology to increase safety and cut down on reckless behaviour when it rolls out its scooter rental service in Dublin. This will include pavement detection and smart parking.

The scooters will also have distinctive sounds aimed at making them more easily recognisable to people who are visually impaired.

Dott is preparing to make its rental service available to Irish users once legislation covering the use of escooters has been put in place.

The company has teamed up with Northern Ireland’s See.Sense to integrate pavement detection into the scooters to ensure riders stick to the rules of the road, trialling the technology in London. The technology can monitor changes in the road service, identify areas of the city where users are braking or swerving, indicating a potential collision, and identifying reckless riding trends among users. Riders can receive warnings via an alert system.

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GPS technology and photo verification will help Dott to ensure escooters are parked in dedicated parking bays, cutting down on the likelihood that the scooters will become a trip hazard or nuisance to other road users.

"From talking to local stakeholders in Dublin, we know that safety remains a key concern, particularly for the visually impaired and vulnerable road users. At Dott we take safety provisions very seriously," said Duncan Robertson, general manager of Dott in Ireland and the UK.

Hazard

“Much like electric cars, we know that escooters can cause a particular hazard to visually impaired people because they emit very little sound. We’ve carried out research on this, and will now begin embedding our escooters with a sound that will be easily recognisable to the visually impaired. We look forward to working with Dublin authorities to introduce this technology here, for the benefit of all road users.”

The escooter company already operates in 17 European cities. It claims more than 97 per cent parking compliance amongst riders, with a fine for those who leave the scooters outside of a parking zone. It has street teams that will pick up and repark the scooter in a safe location.