I’M WRITING in relation to the ongoing discussions in various local media outlets, concerning the Isle of Wight’s e-scooter scheme.

I note concerns being expressed that the operator of the Isle of Wight’s e-scooter concession appeared to show little interest when approached about issues of potential misuse.

I thought it worth highlighting a recent experience, in which my decision to approach Beryl about an irregular parking incident, yielded positive results.

The incident related to an e-scooter deposited outside a hotel in Newport’s Quay Street, that was diagonally skewed across the narrow pavement so as to cause an obstruction.

As a totally blind pedestrian using a white cane, I only became aware of this scooter when my shin made contact with the front wheel, with my cane probably having failed to detect this obstruction by a matter of millimetres.

Later my leg started to blister, which seemed sufficient grounds to report matters.

The CEO at the Isle of Wight-based blindness support charity, Sight For Wight, advised approaching the company directly because Beryl has GPS data supplied by each vehicle, to track down any rider hiring a machine within a specific period of use.

When I contacted Beryl, my hope was that the company could investigate what was in my view, a substantial infringement of the terms for hiring the scooter, because rather than being returned to one of Newport’s designated deposit/collection points, one of their machines was left unattended in a way that was causing a rather conspicuous obstruction to the pavement.

As things turned out, I was contacted by Beryl around 24 hours after my original incident report was sent.

I was advised that the person to whom the offending e-scooter had been allocated, had been tracked down, and duly reminded about the appropriate usage of such vehicles in the light of my specific complaint.

Beryl has established procedures for recording such incidents, the details of which are also submitted to the government department overseeing the development of various e-scooter projects at a national level.

While I can't vouch for what kind of response might be forthcoming when approaching the company by phone, my decision to submit a written account via email (support@beryl.cc) definitely yielded a positive outcome.

READ AGAIN: My dog was almost run over: who monitors the use of these hazardous e-scooters?

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