Honoring the 3400+ people that perish daily on the world’s roads

November 15 marks the World Health Organization’s World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims. More than 3400 people perish daily on the world’s roads and tens of thousands are disabled for life.* More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.*

The good news is that road traffic crashes are largely preventable. Lime and many of the cities that we serve, like London, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and San Francisco, are working to reduce these tragedies to zero. Using the “Vision Zero” framework, these cities around the world are redesigning roads, slowing speeds, and implementing multi-channel education programs to tackle the problem from all angles.

On this Day of Remembrance, Lime reminds our riders and other road users to obey all traffic laws and do these simple things to help avoid these tragedies:

- For riders of our scooters and bikes:
  - Ride defensively and use bike lanes if available. Assume the other person doesn’t see you; look ahead for hazards or situations to avoid that may cause you to fall, like pebbles, potholes, grates, train tracks.
  - Always wear a helmet and highly visible clothing and reflective gear when riding at night. You can order discounted safety gear through Lime’s e-shop.
  - Yield to pedestrians. They are the most vulnerable road users.
  - Obey street signs, signals, and road markings, just like a car.
  - Ride with traffic, not against it.
  - No texting, listening to music or using anything that distracts you by taking your eyes and ears or your mind off the road and traffic.
  - Never drink and ride. In the United States alone, alcohol was involved in 37% of all fatal cyclist crashes in 2017.*
  For drivers and passengers:
  - - Obey the speed limit. Driving at the speed limit helps prevent crashes and, if they do occur, lessens the severity of incident.** Not only does this keep everyone safe, staying at or under the speed limit can lower your gas mileage by roughly 15% to 30% at highway speeds and 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic.***
    - Yield to cyclists, scooter riders, and pedestrians, especially at intersections and driveways.*
    - Stop completely and look left-right-left and behind before turning right on red to avoid hitting a cyclist or scooter rider approaching from the right rear.
    - To avoid “dooring” cyclists and scooter riders, drivers and passengers should reach across your body to reach the door handle with your far or opposite hand, looking over your right shoulder to see oncoming riders.
    - Don’t park or drive in the cycle lane. They’re for riders of bikes and scooters.
    - Avoid following or passing cyclists or scooter riders too closely. Pass cyclists and scooter riders as you would any other vehicle—when it’s safe to move over into an adjacent lane.
    - Never drink and drive.
  - - The text can wait. Avoid distracted driving.