Authorities in the French capital Paris are cracking down on electric scooters after an anarchic year in which startups flooded the city’s streets with their vehicles.
The French capital has 12 free-floating scooter operators, according to a study released on Thursday, and about 20,000 of the two-wheeled vehicles. About a third of electric scooter riders in France are foreign tourists, according to the study by 6t-bureau, a research consultancy specialising in urban planning and transport.
The city already imposes €135 fines for riding on the pavement and €35 fines for blocking the pavement while parked. Operators are charged by the city for any broken scooters that need to be picked up by municipal workers.
The city’s pavements have become something of a battleground between riders and pedestrians.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo says electric scooters have fallen into a legal grey zone and after repeated complaints and a spate of injuries and near misses, the mayor and police want to limit speeds to 20km/h in most areas and 8km/h in areas with heavy foot traffic, and prohibit parking anywhere but designated spaces. Hidalgo also plans to limit the number of operators to three and cap the number of scooters.
Hidalgo said that there is an urgent need for order and rules to assure road safety and to calm the streets, pavements and neighbourhoods of our city.
Via The Guardian
