A Vernon woman is happy to share her morning walks with Neuron E-scooter riders.

As long as they don鈥檛 mow her down on a sidewalk, as the woman said nearly happened to her earlier in May.

The woman 鈥� who we鈥檒l call Lois, as she did not want her name used for the story 鈥� was walking west on 35th Avenue, near 18th Street and Silver Star Elementary School, on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, she said, she heard someone yelling, 鈥渞ing, ring.鈥� She turned to see two young women on one of the rental scooters flying down the sidewalk toward her.

鈥淭he girls yelled, but I heard no warning sound,鈥� said Lois. 鈥淚 turned my neck and they were almost on me. They were coming downhill and I jumped off the sidewalk. Had they swerved onto the road, they would have gone flying.鈥�

Neither woman, said Lois, was wearing a helmet.

鈥淭hey were already a block down the road by the time I got my phone out to try and take a picture,鈥� said Lois, who walks the route daily. The scooter pair, she said, did not stop and did not hang around to see if Lois was alright.

Since the scooters have come into Vernon more than three years ago, Lois said the majority of scooter riders she encounters, 鈥渁re very polite.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 more than happy to share the sidewalk, but this was scary,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 shouldn鈥檛 have to jump out to avoid being hit at full speed.鈥�

Vernon follows ministry of transportation rules for the e-scooter except the two-wheelers to be on sidewalks. Riding is allowed on bike lanes, multi-use pathways, empty sidewalks and roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or lower. One rider per e-scooter, and no tandem riding with children.

Riders must be 16 and over, and wearing a helmet is mandatory. A helmet is provided with every scooter.

Neuron Mobility head of corporate affairs Isaac Ransom said, in an e-mail to The Morning Star, Vernon has embraced the e-scooters since their launch in July 2021, with more than 700,000 million kilometres traveled.

鈥淭he vast majority of people ride responsibly, with over 99.99 per cent of trips ending safely and without incident,鈥� said Ransom.

Riders go through an on-boarding process on Neuron鈥檚 phone app and each ride is equipped with a bell that is clearly visible on the e-scooter.

If riders do break the rules or ride dangerously, they can be suspended or banned entirely from the service.

鈥淔or less serious offences, our aim is to re-educate riders by delivering training material to complete from our industry-leading digital education platform, ScootSafe Academy,鈥� said Ransom. 鈥淔or more serious cases or to deal with repeat offenders, we suspend accounts.鈥�

All Neuron e-scooters have unique registration plates that are GPS-connected so Neuron knows their locations at all times and every trip is logged, said Ransom, which helps identify anyone behaving irresponsibly.

鈥淢embers of the public can report any issues, including irresponsible riding, to our Customer Support team via our app or by phone and email; the details can be found on our and on our vehicles,鈥� said Ransom.

The rules for riding e-scooters in Vernon are below:

鈥� Neuron riders must be 16 years old and above;

鈥� Wearing a helmet is mandatory, there is one on every e-scooter;

鈥� Riding is allowed on bike lanes, multi-use pathways, empty sidewalks and roads with a speed of 50km/h or lower;

鈥� One rider per e-scooter, and no tandem riding with children;

鈥� Keep a safe distance from pedestrians and mobility devices, such as wheelchairs;

鈥� Do not ride under the influence of alcohol or other substances;

鈥� Always be aware and remove earphones;

鈥� Park responsibly and don鈥檛 cause an obstruction. Riders are encouraged to use designated parking areas which can be found in the app.