Authorities in Rome are to impose new electrical scooter rules, similar to proscribing use to adults with ID, after a variety of crashes and near-misses within the metropolis.
The e-scooter rental market has boomed in recent times, with 14,500 scooters presently obtainable within the Italian capital, offered by seven licensed corporations.
Authorities are shifting to clamp down on the state of affairs, together with individuals using on pavements and typically with multiple particular person on board.
Seventeen individuals have been killed in Italy up to now two years after incidents involving electrical scooters, in accordance to the buyer safety affiliation Codacons.
Its chief, Carlo Rienzi, described Rome final month as “a wild west, with scooters going where they shouldn’t, often with two people on board, breaking the speed limit”.
Rome police say they file a median of 15 accidents a month, in accordance to AFP.
The new rules embrace proscribing the usage of electrical scooters to adults with formal ID and limiting the variety of operators within the metropolis to three.
There may also be restrictions on parking, a transfer anticipated by the US firm Bird, which just lately introduced its scooters within the metropolis centre may solely be left in designated areas.
The pace restrict may also be diminished from 25 kmph (15 mph) to 20 on roads and 6 in pedestrian areas.
The draft rules, that are are anticipated to come into power in January 2023, have happy many.
“They cut you off. They pass on the right, on the left, they get stuck in front of us and risk being crushed,” stated Paolo Facioni, a bus driver.
Residents additionally complain that scooters are dumped haphazardly on slim pavements, blocking entry for prams and wheelchairs.
For those that use the scooters, nevertheless, issues have been raised, significantly concerning the diminished pace limits.
The announcement is available in the identical month {that a} US vacationer triggered €25,000 (£21,000) value of harm after hurling her electrical scooter down Rome’s Spanish Steps.
The incident was filmed by a passerby and police later caught up with the 28-year-old and fined her and a 29-year-old male companion, who had wheeled his e-scooter down the 18th-century marble steps, €400 every.
The pair had been additionally banned from returning to the monument.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report