DETROIT (Reuters) – Electric bike-sharing startup Wheels said on Tuesday it will begin offering its riders shareable helmets in response to concerns about injuries.
Beginning in Los Angeles, Wheels will mount helmets on the rear fenders of its bikes that can be unlocked and worn during a trip, then reattached to the bike. The helmets will have removable liners, Wheels said in a blog post.
The Wheels helmet, as well as an earlier program by rival scooter rental company Bird to give away 75,000 helmets, comes as public health experts and regulators are sounding alarms about the safety of electric bikes and scooters.
Policy makers in cities from Singapore to Paris to San Francisco have begun hitting the brakes on e-scooters, banning them from sidewalks or restricting where and when they can be used.
Wheels riders who unlock the helmet will get a 20% discount on the cost of their trip. Sensors in the bike can detect when the helmet is returned, the company said.
Wheels cited in its…
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