Currently, shared motorcycles have been piloted in Beijing Economic Development Zone, Tongzhou District, Changping District, and Miyun District, meeting the needs of many citizens for convenient travel. Just like riding an ordinary "e-donkey", you must wear a helmet when riding a shared motorcycle. However, an investigation by a Beijing Evening News reporter found that shared motorcycle helmets have problems such as recognition failure, power outage, difficulty in size adjustment, and poor hygiene, which has affected citizens’ riding experience to a certain extent.
Outside Guoyuan Metro Station, many shared motorcycles are not equipped with disposable headgear.
Question 1
Turn when riding a bicycle
The vehicle is out of power
In the afternoon, Mr. Li was riding a shared motorcycle on Xinhua South Road in Tongzhou District when he was about to turn a corner. The vehicle suddenly lost power, and a voice prompt immediately sounded: "Helmet not detected, power will be cut off soon." He sat on the seat and adjusted the helmet repeatedly, waiting for the system to re-recognize it. After several operations, power was restored to the vehicle. "It would be too dangerous if we get stuck in traffic at an intersection and lose power." Mr. Li looked helpless.
A citizen posted on the Internet that he had repeatedly complained to the platform about sudden power outages while riding a shared motorcycle, but in the end he only received three riding vouchers with a face value of 3 yuan. In this citizen’s opinion, a sudden power outage while driving poses safety risks and needs to be taken seriously. During the investigation, many cyclists complained to reporters that the management and control mode of shared motorcycle helmets’ linked power supply often suffers from recognition errors.
Question 2
The buckle doesn’t work well
Unstable when riding
At the entrance of the Rongchang East Street subway station in the Economic Development Zone, a citizen, Ms. Liu, scanned the QR code to use the car and found that the helmet buckle was somewhat loose and could not be fixed on her head. "The inside of the helmet is made of hard material, and the fit is very poor. It can only be tightened by buckles." She repeatedly adjusted the position, but the recognition device could not sense the wearing status. After more than ten minutes of tossing, she had no choice but to give up riding.
Shared motorcycle helmets have a single size and lack of adjustment space, which is a pain point reported by many citizens. "The adjustable buckle of the head circumference is almost useless. It can't be worn on big heads and unstable on small heads." Mr. Zhang, who lives near Wanshengxi Subway Station in Tongzhou District, said that when people with flat heads and small heads wear helmets, the helmets will shake left and right while riding, and they have to reach out to straighten them every once in a while. When encountering bumps on the road, you can only hold the handlebars with one hand and hold down the helmet with the other hand, which greatly reduces the riding stability.
Question 3
Insufficient sanitary headgear
Operation and maintenance standards are vague
For many citizens, shared motorcycle helmets still have hygiene shortcomings. Outside the Orchard subway station, Ms. Qin, a citizen, told reporters that when shared motorcycles were first launched, each vehicle was equipped with disposable sanitary hoods. Now some places have stopped supplying hoods. “The inner wall of the helmet smells of sweat. Without a hood, I can only wipe it repeatedly with the wipes I carry.”
A reporter recently saw at the entrance of Tongzhou District International Cultural City that only 3 of the 11 shared motorcycles parked together were equipped with disposable sanitary hoods; less than a quarter of the vehicles around Guoyuan Subway Station were equipped with hoods. The reporter contacted the customer service of multiple platforms to inquire about helmet maintenance, cleaning frequency, and consumable replenishment. However, the customer service staff was never able to provide clear operation and maintenance standards. They only repeatedly registered problems and promised upward feedback.
-Suggestions
Helmet integrity rate, cleaning and disinfection should be included in the assessment
Chen Yanyan, director of the Transportation Science and Technology Innovation Center of Beijing University of Technology, believes that the helmets are linked to the power supply of shared motorcycles. From a safety perspective, there is no problem with the system direction. However, if power outages occur frequently along the way and identification misjudgments occur, it will bring new traffic safety risks and violate the original intention of safety control.
"Shared helmets are supporting facilities for new business types. Supervision has long focused on the vehicle itself, but there are institutional gaps in the product acceptance, quality testing, and daily operation and maintenance of helmets." Chen Yanyan said that currently helmets only need to meet basic 3C certification requirements, and there is a lack of assessment standards for head circumference fit and wearing comfort.
"Helmet management spans multiple fields such as operational services, traffic safety, product quality, and public health, and requires multi-department collaboration to formulate detailed rules." Chen Yanyan suggested that regulatory authorities should include helmet integrity rates, cleaning and disinfection conditions, and complaint handling efficiency into regular assessments. Shared motorcycle companies that do not meet the standards for operation and maintenance should make rectifications within a time limit. If the circumstances are serious, there should also be an exit mechanism. Intern reporter Liu Yujie Photo by Wen Bing
