Jordan Pascale
Watch out for the shadows.
That was the biggest takeaway from my first ride on one of the 400 shared mopeds that hit the streets of D.C. last week.
The midday ride in leafy Northwest Washington neighborhoods created plenty of shadows that made the contours of the road hard to see. D.C. has notoriously bad roads — nearly a third were rated in poor condition last year — and hitting a pothole or manhole cover while going 25 mph on an electric moped isn’t the same as hitting one in a car. At least on an e-scooter, the smaller kick scooters that max out at 10 mph, you have time to slow down or react.
Not so with mopeds. At least one person has already been thrown off the electric moped after hitting a pothole. The rider broke his collarbone.
Safety has been the largest concern with the introduction of yet another rentable vehicle that requires no training to operate.
The vehicles — which look like Vespas and are maintained by the company Revel — are more powerful and finicky than a bike or e-scooter. Riders are exposed and they’re in the same space as much heavier vehicles. Like other rides on the road, they’re only as safe as the rider and the people around them.
What It’s Like To Ride A Moped
The moped wasn’t incredibly difficult to control for this reporter, who has years of experience riding a bicycle and using the e-scooters. The biggest challenges were the touchy accelerator and getting going at a stoplight with traffic waiting. At one point, as I was trying to raise my legs and accelerate from a stop, we teetered a bit before finding the right balance.
Definitely start out by getting comfortable in a low traffic neighborhood, if at all possible. The throttle is sensitive and can push you forward pretty quickly. The turns are nimble, but you don’t want to take them too fast.
The max speed is 30 mph but I never topped out at that speed, which means these mopeds are best suited to neighborhoods, secondary streets and downtown streets with stop and go traffic that have an average of 10-20 mph. According to Revel’s map, the mopeds are technically banned from the “highway” roads like Connecticut Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, 16th Street and others like them.
Safety Concerns
Safety advocates have questioned whether the city should let people ride 200-pound electric vehicles with no training.
AAA’s John Townsend says the District should require training and dictate the traffic safety culture.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) says safety is their priority and that’s why they required companies to offer classes. But the law only requires moped riders to have a valid license… not a special certification or training.
Revel does offer training, but it’s not required to rent. The app features a video for riding tips, but doesn’t require anyone to watch it. The only instructions on the vehicles are: “Wear a helmet at all times with the visor down. No riding on sidewalks, bike lanes or highways. Obey all traffic laws.”
Gerald Helfgott, owner of Modern Classics moped shop in Brentwood, says the basics are easy, but learning a vehicle takes time. He used to teach two-day motorcycle and moped classes.
“I don’t think anybody thought this out particularly well, but I come from a very long experience of riding, watching really bad things happen, especially to people who are unprepared,” Helfgott says.
He laments the first injury and predicts more: road rash, concussions, broken collarbones, broken arms. And if you’re hit by a car, the moped drivers’ legs are usually okay, but a passenger’s legs can get pinned between the vehicles. He says drivers tend not to see the smaller mopeds.
“There are a lot of drivers in D.C. who run red lights and other bad stuff,” he says. “I’m not real, real aggressive at intersections anymore. I used to be, but now I sort of tiptoe out into the intersection and look both ways.”
And D.C. roads pose additional challenges, such as large sheets of metal to cover up construction.
“If you were riding with me, you’d be going, ‘What’s this guy doing?’ ” Helfgott says. “I’m all over the place because I’m avoiding the manhole covers. Because if I have to grab my brakes, I don’t want to be on metal.”
The Lessons
Revel has a sparse warehouse office near Takoma where riders can take 30-minute lessons in the evenings and on weekends. Trainers go over how to unlock the vehicle, how to properly fit the helmet and the features of the vehicle.
I watched as Howard student Josh Metcalf took his first turn on the moped with instruction from a Revel trainer. He started out by “waddling” on the bike, which is how you’re supposed to back in the moped to park. Then he went on to accelerating and turning, followed by a spin around the block. By the end, Metcalf said he felt pretty comfortable after the training and was eager to take his next trip.
Helfgott, the scooter store owner and former instructor, encourages everyone to take the lessons, but they shouldn’t stop after half an hour.
“It’s really more than a 30-minute lesson if they’re really teaching people what they’re doing,” Helfgott says. “They can give them a general idea, but then they’re tossing them out in traffic.”
This story first appeared on WAMU.
