When Susanne Breitwieser is out and about with her guide dog Lilo, an e-scooter lying around can become an obstacle and thus a source of danger. The deputy chairwoman of the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Upper Austria (BSV) was there yesterday at the e-scooter day of action in downtown Linz. The motto was: “Don’t just scold, but enlighten!” The “Fokus Mensch” association, which works for people with disabilities, was also there.
There are around 45,000 wheelchair users in Austria, says Michael Leitner, managing director of the “Fokus Mensch” association. For them, but also for around three percent of the visually impaired, incorrectly parked or randomly parked e-scooters would pose a source of danger. Just recently, a blind acquaintance had an accident, says Thomas Menrath, BSV traffic officer. The man fell over a scooter lying on the street in Urfahr, luckily he was not seriously injured. But it doesn’t always go that smoothly.
thoughtlessness as a problem
Breitwieser is convinced that thoughtlessness is often the reason why scooters are left lying around. “It is therefore important to clarify the consequences of such behavior. Many are not aware of how dangerous e-scooters lying around can be.”
In order to counteract the problem with the “wildly” parked scooters, traffic officer Martin Hajart (VP), as reported, recently held a summit with the three providers. One result of this has been visible with the “Scooter Sheriffs” since last week. One of them is Tony from the company Tier, which also took part in the day of action. His working day starts early in the morning, a shift lasts four to five hours. “The discipline of the users often leaves a lot to be desired, they should think more about their fellow human beings,” is Tony’s experience. Martin Skleran from Tier also wants to improve this with reward incentives (free minutes, etc.). VP city party manager Wolfgang Steiger is confident that a good solution can be found together. In any case, there was a sense of unity on the day of action.
Source: Nachrichten
