Paris tells e-scooter riders to wear safety gear or face fines
Police in the French capital tighten rules for riders after a sharp increase in fatal accidents.
Paris is set to enforce new safety regulations for e-scooter riders, threatening fines for non-compliance. Last year, 79 fatalities were recorded in e-scooter accidents, a significant increase from 45 the previous year, according to police. The city's road safety watchdog has reported a 33% rise in e-scooter injuries, totaling 1,100 in Paris.
To address this alarming trend, it is now compulsory for riders to wear a helmet and high-visibility vest on public roads, with offenders facing a fine of €135 (£129) for not wearing an approved helmet and €35 (£30) for not wearing a vest or retro-reflectors. This rule extends to other electric transportation devices like electric unicycles and hoverboards.
Despite Paris banning rental e-scooters in 2023 due to safety concerns, privately-owned e-scooters can still be used. These devices are particularly popular in the congested city, where narrow roads can cause bottlenecks. Private e-scooter ownership in France is the highest in Europe, with 2.5 million people owning them as of 2023.
Paris has set strict rules for e-scooter use, including a ban on riders under 14, no passengers, and a maximum speed limit of 25km/h (16mph). Helmets and high-visibility vests are already mandatory in several French regions. The city was an early adopter of e-scooters, but rising concerns about reckless driving and sidewalk obstruction led to the rental ban, which was approved by 90% of voters in a city-wide referendum.
Other European cities have followed suit, with Madrid banning rental e-scooters in 2024 and Brussels planning to do the same in June.
Written by urgent.news from BBC World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
