Bite Size Comms

On the evening of 1 October, two 13-year-old girls from my son’s school in Riga, Latvia, were killed when they rode a hired electric moped through a closed railway crossing and were hit by a train. The girls thought they could nip across the closed crossing before the train at the station moved off. They didn’t look in the other direction at another train approaching the station. A sad and tragic accident.

Media attention turned to how 13-year-olds could hire a moped. The company, called Ride, said it wasn’t their problem; it was the fault of the dead children’s parents. No sympathy. No offer to amend their online app hiring policies with age verification. Latvia introduced a law stating that electric scooters can only be hired by individuals over 18 years of age. To drive a moped, you need a motorcycle driving licence. It turns out that the red hire mopeds are not legally classified as mopeds, as pedals have been attached to them, so they are classified as electric bicycles even if the pedals are never used! The vehicles are small and low. They appear to be designed for children. I would not be able to fit on one. 

It gets worse.

The Latvian authorities ordered Ride to suspend its operations while an investigation is conducted. Ride refused, saying that the authorities did not know what they were talking about. You can still hire these moped bicycles. Riga’s Mayor is pushing for new legislation. The CEO of Ride said the Mayor had to offer him an apology as his business was being damaged. Ride was the victim. Naturally, the Mayor refused. 

It gets even worse. The CEO of Ride is reported as saying that he will kill the Mayor.

Clearly, the CEO of Ride has no concept of crisis communications. I hope he will be arrested and prosecuted for his hate statements, at a minimum. According to Professor Tim Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory, playing the victim only works when the company has no fault, such as in cases of product tampering, natural disasters, and false rumours. This ‘denial’ strategy aims to sever any perceived connection between the organisation and the crisis. Even a ‘diminish’ response, when the organisation tries to communicate that it has no involvement in the situation, should only be used when there is no or minimal attribution of crisis responsibility. Understanding how an organisation’s publics will perceive a crisis and attribute responsibility for it is crucial. The children were able to hire a moped bicycle; even if the moped probably didn’t malfunction and cause the accident, there is still a perceived responsibility.

The CEO has prioritised the reputation of his company over the victims. The death of children is an emotional issue that people care about. I see many of these moped bicycles being pushed on their side in Riga. A protest. There is outrage on social media used by Latvians. Unfortunately, it appears that the business has experienced an increase in short-term hire sales since the accident, particularly among young people. They now know that there is no age verification before hiring, even though Ride claims that they do not hire to under-18s. Outside my son’s school were five red moped bicycles this morning. Undoubtedly hired by school children.

For the hire company, this is a crisis that is not going away quickly. For the Latvian government at both national and local levels, this involves risk communication. There is a need to educate young people about the dangers of electric vehicles and rail crossings. In fact, the day after the accident, every teacher at my son’s school held a class discussion about this. Latvia does not have fences next to railway lines, and people are used to crossing wherever is most convenient for them. In soviet times, the trains moved slowly. Now, Latvia has modern electric trains that are much faster. The law on scooters needs to be amended to include these hire moped bicycles too.

Some people, and not just in Latvia, believe businesses should be free from restrictions so that they can generate substantial profits for their shareholders. A view from the last century that remains visible in many countries today. 

[Image of red moped bicycles in front of a school in Riga, by the author]