Voi alcohol-tests its riders in Oslo

Jun 28, 2021

Drinking and riding an e-scooter is never acceptable. In fact, drinking and driving any vehicle is never acceptable. That’s why we sent out a patrol of volunteers to the streets of Oslo last Saturday night to test riders’ blood-alcohol levels and let them know if they were over the limit.

And plenty were. Most of them appreciated the testing and weren’t even aware that the drink-driving rules apply to them also. Our testers were there not just to test but also to inform and educate.

The team of eight, including our own Norway country manager Christina Moe Gjerde, took to the streets between 10pm and one in the morning and found that just over half of the tested riders had over 0.04% BAC (blood alcohol content) in their blood. This is above Norway’s strict drink-driving limit for motor vehicles but in Norway, any kind of driving or riding under the influence is illegal whatever the mode of transport.  

At Voi, we take this problem seriously but we also realise that we can’t solve it alone. We can, should and do help inform our riders about the dangers of riding under the influence.

But there is also a question of policing and we know that since shared e-scooters are new to many streets, police forces haven’t always got up to speed with testing riders. We know they are working on it and we encourage much more stringent policing of riding under the influence.

We welcome increased police controls and fines when appropriate to keep our streets safe for everyone.

And remember. If you’re going to enjoy a couple of drinks on a Saturday night, then don’t drive any vehicle at all, whether it’s a car, bicycle or one of our scooters.

Stay safe!


Related posts

All posts

Voi closes financing round following a record year in revenue and profitability

1 / 3