Russia proposes to ban electric scooters on pedestrian streets

In Russian regions, the speed of rental electric scooters may be limited to 15 km/h at the software level instead of the permitted 25 km/h. Writes about it newspaper “Izvestia” with reference to a member of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing from United Russia, Alexander Yakubovsky, who sent a corresponding deputy request to the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In addition to the speed limit, it is proposed to ban electric scooters from driving on pedestrian streets. According to the parliamentarian, they should be managed by persons over 18 years old. Similar measures are planned to be applied to electric bicycles.

According to Yakubovsky, the proposals are due to an increase in accident rates involving personal mobility aids (IM). So, in 2019, 147 such accidents were committed, in 2020 – 430, in 2021 – 704, in 2022 – 976. Last year alone, 19 deaths were recorded due to these accidents, in which nearly a thousand people.

“We should look at the statistics of accidents with SIM – its continuous growth shows that the changes made do not work yet. In this case, it is necessary to ensure the safety of pedestrians by reducing the speed of rental electric scooters to 15 km / h,” Yakubovsky said.

He stressed that the current speed limit for riding electric scooters is five times the walking speed, and after the changes it will exceed only three. He recalled that pedestrian zones are needed, among other things, for walking and sightseeing, and not for trying to “dodge flying electric scooters.”

Kicksharing operators, in turn, reminded that the speed of electric scooters is regulated. For example, Whoosh has set a limit of 10-15 km/h in crowded places. And Lite – up to 5-15 km / h. True, these companies do not strongly believe that such restrictions will really reduce the number of such accidents, however, they recognized that the transport scenario for using services will change: people will stop using electric scooters to quickly and comfortably reach their destination, they say.