Why France finds electric scooters a problem

An electric scooter is the rage in many countries. It is touted as very eco-friendly, as it does not pollute the environment. It appears to be a good antidote to crowded metros, very convenient to move around, reducing the dependence on cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles that make wending their way through heavy traffic an uphill task. For some people, it helps moving about in the neighbourhood, particularly when they have to buy groceries from a hypermarket chain down the road, a walk to which can be tiresome particularly when the weather is very hot.

But it is like a curate’s egg: there are good and bad sides to it. The problem with such vehicles is the attitude of the riders.

They often defy bans on riding on pavements, or park without consideration, while some abandon the scooters in parks or even toss them into the Seine river, according to Agence France-Presse.

Now, Parisians will be invited to vote on whether to allow electric scooter rental services to continue operating in the city as authorities weigh banning the controversial for-hire vehicles, the capital’s mayor has said.

The issue is “extremely divisive”, mayor Anne Hidalgo told the weekend edition of Le Parisien newspaper, with critics saying riders show only cursory respect for the rules of the road.

Fans meanwhile praise the zippy fleets – totalling 15,000 scooters operated by companies Lime, Dott and Tier – as a fast, non-polluting alternative to cars or crowded public transport.Electric scooters are also popular in India. Total electric two-wheeler sales reported a record volume of about 6.27 lakh units in 2022, up from 1.57 lakh units in 2021, according to the Hindu.

Hidalgo said Paris residents would be asked “a very simple question” in the referendum planned for April 2: “Do we or don’t we continue with free-floating rental scooters?”

The mayor said she herself was leaning towards a ban but would “respect Parisians’ vote”. A ban would make Paris an exception among major cities. In September, the capital already threatened the three operators with non-renewal of their licences, which expire in March, if they failed to limit reckless riding and other “misuses”.

The operators in November came up with a number of suggested improvements, including equipping the scooters with licence plates that would allow easier tracking of riders running a red light, or travelling in pairs on the single-person vehicles – both common violations.

But David Belliard, Hidalgo’s deputy in charge of urban transport, still said a cost-benefit analysis did not favour the rental schemes.

“They are in the way and they are dangerous,” he told AFP, saying he favoured a ban to “pacify our streets and pavements”.

There was “too much negative feedback” from citizens about the scooters, he said.

Hidalgo said that privately owned scooters, also hugely popular in the capital, were not targeted in the referendum. They are “not a problem”, she said.

In 2021, 24 people died in scooter-related accidents in France, including one in Paris. This year, Paris registered 337 accidents with e-scooters and similar vehicles in the first eight months of the year, from 247 over the same period in 2021.

Cities worldwide are tightening regulations on e-scooters, limiting the number of operators and limiting their speed and the number of areas where they can park.

Electric scooters accessed through smartphone apps have operated in Paris since 2018, but following complaints about their anarchic deployment, Paris in 2020 cut the number of operators to three. It gave them a three-year contract, required that scooters’ speed be capped at 20 km/hour and imposed designated scooter parking areas.

Operators have offered further regulations, including ID checks to make sure users are over 18, fixing licence plates to scooters so police can identify traffic offenders, and preventing the carrying of more than one passenger.