Spain crackdown on e-scooters for children offers lessons for UK
MADRID – Spain is to ban children under 16 from using electric scooters to make pedestrians safer as the two-wheelers face a growing backlash across Europe.
The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), which regulates road safety in Spain, recommended that all e-scooter riders should wear a helmet and register the use of the vehicle.
Anyone who goes to work on this type of scooter, like delivery company workers, will have to wear a high-visibility vest.
The proposals, which must be passed by Spain’s government at a cabinet meeting, are designed to protect “vulnerable pedestrians” like elderly people and young children, the DGT said.
In many European countries, the use of e-scooters has boomed in recent years, with rental companies flooding major cities with scooters for rent that are popular with locals and tourists alike.
However, police across the continent have reported countless accidents. At least six people were killed in Rome in the past three years while riding scooters, which also causes problems for pedestrians.
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In Spain, 11 people were killed in accidents involving scooters last year, according to the MAPFRE Foundation and the Centre for Experimentation and Security.
Under UK law, it is illegal to use private e-scooters on public roads. Rental scooters can be used in 20 areas as part of a national trial, including some boroughs of London, Liverpool, Oxfordshire and the West Midlands.
In Spain, regulations governing the age when children can use electric scooters have been fixed by local authorities, so rules vary from town to town, with some authorities allowing children as young as 14 to use the two-wheelers, and others banning them for anyone under 16.
Ana Montalbán Navas, technical director of the Walking Cities Network, which defends the interests of pedestrians, said it was respect for pedestrians that mattered, more than the age of e-scooter users.
“Whether they are 16 or under, what is important is the education and understanding that they should respect the rights of everyone who uses pavements and roads,” she told i.
Last year, Italy brought in new regulations so riders have to wear helmets and have insurance, while e-scooters must have a registration plate. It is forbidden to ride the scooters outside built-up areas like main roads or to leave them haphazardly on pavements.
Parisians voted to ban rental e-scooters last year from the French capital, a move that was followed by Malta this year.