Home Business News Paris vote to ban e-scooters which ‘should be a wake-up call’ to UK government as many suffer from ‘preventable injuries’

Paris vote to ban e-scooters which ‘should be a wake-up call’ to UK government as many suffer from ‘preventable injuries’

by LLB staff reporter
3rd Apr 23 3:15 pm

Parisians have overwhelmingly voted to ban e-scooters from Paris amid safety concerns as pavements are cluttered which has caused many injuries to pedestrians.

Last year there was 459 recorded accidents which involved e-scooters or similar types of vehicles, and Reuters reported that three people were killed.

On Sunday a referendum was held where almost 90% of Parisians voted to ban the e-scooter and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo has pledged to ban them from the French capital.

The non-binding referendum which was held on Sunday saw 89.03% of 103,084 of votes which were cast.

“Their very clear message now becomes our roadmap,” Hidalgo said.

A spokesman for Dott told the PA news agency said, “There is no impact to our services in London and other major European cities, where there is a trend of increasing sustainable travel.

“We will continue to offer e-bikes in Paris and plan to expand our fleet to meet anticipated demand from the 400,000 users of shared e-scooters that will need to find alternative transport.”

Tier who operate in France said in a statement, “While the decision in Paris is disappointing for the sector and hundreds of thousands of people who rely on the service, Tier is committed to continuing to run safe and highly-utilised shared e-scooter services across the UK.

“We have strong relationships with local authorities and the police, and are co-operating with the Government as they collect information during this trial period.

“We continue to develop new solutions to make our service accessible and sustainable, supporting the UK’s net-zero targets and ensuring users and the wider public have a positive experience.”

Martin Usher, partner in personal injury at law firm Lime Solicitors, said, “The relationship between e-scooters and other road users has deteriorated badly in Paris because of a lack of regulation and education.

“Pedestrians have been put at risk and Parisians have now taken a strong stance against the rental schemes.

“This should be a wake-up call to our government, which is burying its head in the sand over new forms of transport and we must act now to avoid a similar result.

“Despite their environmental benefits, the ongoing failure to act is sadly leaving people vulnerable to preventable injuries.

“We need proper education campaigns around safe e-scooter use and a comprehensive legislation framework to protect users and pedestrians, and allow the schemes to grow safely.”

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