Mobility company Bolt is including an alcohol test in its app for users who want to unlock an electric shared scooter in the Brussels-Capital Region at night.
Bolt's first introduced its compulsory alcohol test in Spain, and after a recent study by the St Pieter's Hospital in Brussels showed that about one-third of accidents with electric scooters at night was due to excessive alcohol consumption, it will now also implement it in Belgium.
"The safety of our users, but also of other road users such as cyclists and pedestrians, is our top priority," Oualid Benhammadi, Country Manager MicroMobility Belgium at Bolt, said in a statement.
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"The launch of our drink-driving prevention system is another step towards implementing more safety functions in our application," he added.
Those who want to unlock a scooter by using the QR code between 19:00 and 05:00 will first be subjected to a "quick and simple cognitive test," which measures the reaction time through three changing images.
If the response time exceeds a certain threshold or if the user does not take the test, the app will not unlock the scooter and other transportation options such as ride-hailing will be suggested.
