Almost 90% vote to ban scooter rentals in the French capital.
Parisians voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to ban electric scooter rentals in the French capital. Almost 90% of voters were in favor of banning rental devices on the streets of Paris, as announced by the city administration. Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo had announced that she would follow the vote, even if the poll result was not legally binding.
Around 15,000 e-scooters are available for rent in Paris. The three providers Lime, Tier and Dott will now have to completely evacuate their fleets from the city following the vote.
Sellers of e-scooters, for example, for private individuals whose companions are not affected by the referendum, should be happy. Last year, 700,000 units were sold in France.
From a compelling invention to a “stimulus topic”
Paris was one of the European pioneers with the introduction of e-scooters for hire in 2018. But in the meantime, according to Hidalgo, small electric vehicles have become a real “hot topic”. While private scooter owners “take care” of their vehicles, there is something of a throwaway mentality when it comes to rental scooters, Hidalgo criticized: “We take it and throw it away.”
Proponents, on the other hand, appreciate rental e-scooters as an easy-to-use vehicle for covering distances in the city centre. Opponents argue that scooters are en masse on the way. They also complain about its poor ecological balance and criticize the fact that drivers recklessly hiss at pedestrians on sidewalks. Last year there were more than 400 scooter accidents in Paris, three people lost their lives.
Paris is not alone in the discussion: several major cities around the world have already regulated and restricted the use of e-scooters, while some – such as Barcelona and Montreal – have banned their use entirely. Also in Paris, suppliers had to reduce the speed of scooters to ten kilometers per hour in around 700 areas of the city center.
(APA/AFP)