Public e-scooter rental trials are set to be prolonged for another eight months no less than, however the ongoing problem of unlawful non-public e-scooters in Britain stays as we enter 2022. Safety considerations are at the forefront of any conversations around e-scooters, which might and must be a revolutionary mode of transport in the UK.
The trials could introduce obligatory ID plates and officers hope that security information can be gathered throughout the proposed prolonged trial interval, however is that sufficient to safe not solely a suitable security commonplace, but in addition public confidence?
Having beforehand detailed the challenges and risks around the elevated use of e-scooters in the UK, in this text Lucie Clinch seems to be at the variations in e-scooter use throughout Europe and whether or not classes may be discovered from their positions.
France (Paris)
There are roughly 15,000 rental e-scooters in use throughout Paris on any given day. According to la Fédération Française de l’Assurance (French Insurance Federation), 11% of individuals repeatedly use “motorized personal transport devices”, as they’re classed below French laws. Any individual over the age of 12 is permitted to make use of an e-scooter, so long as it can’t journey sooner than 25km/h. Anyone using aged 12-18 must be accompanied by an grownup (on a separate car as sharing just isn’t permitted).
A deadly incident involving an e-scooter and pedestrian in June 2021 result in restrictions on e-scooter use in Paris from November 2021 onwards. In 700 areas of the metropolis that entice excessive numbers of pedestrians, together with public parks, gardens and vacationer areas, e-scooter speeds are restricted to 10km/h. Paris e-scooter suppliers Lime, Tier and Dott limit speeds as soon as scooters enter designated areas. Authorities are additionally engaged on initiatives to resolve the hazard of discarded e-scooters in the metropolis, looking for photographs of the parked e-scooter at the finish of a rental interval, and have given native police extra powers to problem fines.
In France any individual over age 12 can use an e-scooter, restricted to 25km/h. Lights, horn and reflective parts and a helmet are all required by legislation in France on larger velocity roads, however e-scooter customers needn’t possess a legitimate driving license. E-scooters are usually not allowed on pavements or nation roads.
Denmark (Copenhagen)
An early trailblazer metropolis for e-scooter use, Copenhagen’s early e-scooters couldn’t be legally used on public roads. A change in this method result in a flooded e-scooter market and quite a few discarded e-scooters around the metropolis, resulting in a complete ban in 2020.
Almost a year later, in June 2021, e-scooters had been allowed to return to Copenhagen, albeit with strict limitations on their use inside rental schemes. Copenhagen’s administration described the earlier use of e-scooters as “unregulated chaos”, saying that the 3,200 rental scooters deployed on the roads are banned from being picked up or dropped off in densely populated areas of the metropolis and requiring them to be parked solely in designated zones. This just isn’t excellent news for rental suppliers, Voi and Tier, who face leases restricted to exterior the metropolis centre with doubtlessly fewer customers because of this. The final downside can be the anticipated enhance in non-public possession of e-scooters in the metropolis.
It stays unlawful to journey an e-scooter on the pavement in Denmark and the minimal age for using an e-scooter with out an grownup is 15 years outdated, although they’re handled like bicycles in relation to visitors guidelines. Lights and reflectors are obligatory, however insurance coverage just isn’t except the e-scooter is an element of a rental scheme. The use of helmets solely grew to become obligatory on 1 January 2022 and riders now danger a tremendous if caught with out one.
Spain
Rules surrounding “personal mobility vehicles” have been tightened in current years as Spanish legislators push to enhance the security of their roads. E-scooters had been legalised in 2021 however can’t be used on pavements, in tunnels or on motorways. E-scooters are actually thought-about autos and ‘drivers’ are obliged to adjust to nationwide visitors legal guidelines in the identical approach drivers of automobiles or motorbikes do.
At night time, riders will need to have white lights at the entrance and pink lights at the again of their scooter and the use of earphones at any time whereas using a scooter is prohibited. Helmets are usually not obligatory, however reflective clothes is. There can also be no requirement to have a driving license however no nationwide age restrict for e-scooter use. Many of Spain’s municipalities and cities have nonetheless applied their very own minimal age guidelines. For instance, riders in Mallorca and Madrid should be no less than 15 years outdated. E-scooters are usually not allowed on pavements, intercity roads, motorways, bypasses, highways or metropolis tunnels. In Barcelona, a rider can face fines as much as €500 for using on a pavement.
Germany
E-scooters are already a particularly outstanding half of city transport in Germany and evidently the nation is streets forward with e-scooter regulation and legalisation. There are effectively in extra of 150,000 scooters out there for rent, the highest quantity in Europe, and Germany is presently the solely European nation the place e-scooters additionally require a registration plate sticker as an insurance coverage indicator.
These “small electric vehicles” can solely be ridden by these over the age of 14 and will need to have no less than one bell or horn. Whilst a helmet just isn’t obligatory, e-scooters should be manufactured as much as government-mandated requirements. Only these manufactured as such are eligible for an Allgemeines Betriebserlaubnis (ABE), which is important to acquire insurance coverage. To get an ABE, an e-scooter will need to have a holding bar, not more than a 1,500 watt motor and a most velocity of 20 km/h. They additionally want entrance and back lights, impartial brakes and a horn.
What can the UK study?
As UK legislators think about the path ahead for e-scooters, it’s evident that classes may be discovered from their European counterparts. Cities similar to Copenhagen and Paris have enforced strict rules on e-scooter use in their most densely populated areas, whereas additionally introducing extra fines and monitoring by police or process forces. Pedestrian security should be thought-about as half of any street guidelines for e-scooters. That stated, the wider use of e-scooters as a viable transport possibility in European cities could also be an indication of the place the UK may comply with.
Whilst legal guidelines around categorisation, insurance coverage and security will differ from nation to nation and even district to district, it’s important inside the UK that we set up a transparent and simply comprehensible regime to maximise security of riders and different susceptible street customers.