By now you’ve definitely seen those purple e-scooters on the sidewalk in key areas around the city. That’s Beam, Asia-Pacific’s largest and fastest-growing shared micro-mobility company; or a little closer to earth, it’s Malaysia’s premier e-scooter operator. They recently held their first ever Beam Safety Academy in Malaysia on 15 May 2022 at 1 Utama Shopping Centre.
Basically, they wanted to teach you the right way to ride an e-scooter without face-planting. Trust us, most people need a lesson in that. The event took place in several large cities throughout the globe and is Beam’s flagship training programme to educate attendees on beginner and advanced e-scooter riding and safety skills.
Malaysia has seen a monumental rise in the use of micro mobility vehicles; or last mile solutions, but with that comes an increase in incidents related to e-scooters. The first Beam Safety Academy in Malaysia indicated a positive reception from the public with close to 50 people attending the free course.
“Micro mobility vehicles have undoubtedly played a role in giving the public a reliable and convenient option for their travels. Moreover, the 12th Malaysia Plan clearly identified micro mobility as an enabler for its economy and a connector of first and last mile trips. With a significant increase in micro mobility users, this is why our Beam Safety Academy is important; to help users learn how to enjoy our vehicles safely,” said Isabelle Neo, Vice President of Public Affairs at Beam Mobility.
Also Read: MoT: E-scooter users and service providers to require license
The Beam Safety Academy provided step-by-step lessons on proper e-scooter usage, parking methods, safety rules, and the importance of adhering to local micro mobility laws. Apart from that, Beam also gave out free Beam credits to all attendees for their participation in the course.
A positive note from the first lesson was that many of the attendees were first-time users from various age groups, many of whom acknowledged the benefits of e-scooters in making travels simpler.
“For sure, I would be more inclined to use Beam’s e-scooters a little bit more after this event, but I will need some more practice first. But that’s why an event like this Safety Academy is important,” said Adrian, a 42-year-old IT Contractor, who acknowledged that e-scooters were a perfect last mile solution for his work commute in KL.
Also Read: E-scooters are no longer allowed on the roads from January 2021 onwards
Wong, a 50-year-old Senior Consultant, who had his first ever e-scooter experience at the Beam Safety Academy added, “I think Beam’s e-scooters are very useful. I’ve seen many of these used regularly in big cities like London where people use e-scooters to continue their commute after getting off a public transportation like the tube. If we can create a safe and suitable environment for e-scooter use in Malaysia, I would definitely consider using this as my method of transport to work,” he explained.
Beam e-scooters are now available for Malaysians above 18 years old to use and can be rode for up to 60 km. All Beam’s e-scooters are limited to 25 kph for safety reasons and are built with a GPS tracker that will cause the e-scooters to slow down and sound a loud alert should a user take it outside its riding jurisdiction.