From France comes the first squeeze on electric scooters. Increasing penalties for violators
March 30, 2023
In France there’s a squeeze on electric scooters, Paris has decided to ban their use by minors under 14 and to hold citizens accountable by introducing more expensive penalties for offenders.
In the French capital, about 2 million people they own an electric scooter and thousands are the people who use it with self-service rental services. In Paris, the accidents related to the use of this type of vehicle have increased exponentially in recent years.
Among the victims, on June 14, 2021, also Miriam, a 31-year-old Tuscan who worked as a waitress in an Italian restaurant, who lost her life after being hit by two girls on scooters.
The Parisian municipality has therefore organized a local referendum for April 2 which could ban them in the French capital. Open to all citizens, The referendum asks a simple question: “Are you for or against self-service scooters in Paris?”
The mayor of Paris was interviewed by the newspaper le Parisien, Anne Hidalgo, said she was rather in favor of a hypothetical ban: “but I will respect the vote of the Parisians”. As for the national plan presented yesterday by the Minister of Transport Clement Beaune, aims at a “pacification of the public space”, albeit with stricter rules. “If well organized, well regulated, electric scooters can be a chance,” says Beaune, promoter of the decree which will bring the minimum age to drive an electric scooter from 12 to 14 years. In addition, scooters must be equipped with arrows and stop lights and a sharp increase in fines is expected which will go from 35 to 135 euros for those traveling in two. Regarding the use of the helmet, it is not yet made mandatory.
