Drunk e-scooter riders face fines in Russia
Intoxicated e-scooter operators could soon face fines in Russia; a parliamentary committee has recommended new legislation targeting offenses related to the use of the electric vehicles.
Last year, a total of 43 people were killed in accidents involving e-scooters and similar personal mobility devices in Russia, TASS reported, citing official data. The number of incidents associated with such vehicles has risen exponentially over the last five years, as rental companies have expanded their fleets in all major cities across the country.
On Monday, the Russian Parliament’s Committee on State-Building concluded that a bill on mobility devices proposed by a group of senators last month should become law.
If passed, the new rules would see intoxicated e-scooter riders, as well as those refusing to be breathalyzed, slapped with a fine of up to 30,000 rubles ($338). For cyclists, the penalties remain the same – up to 1,500 rubles.
Penalties for speeding under the new law would reach 5,000 rubles in extreme cases, with an equivalent fine envisaged for e-scooter users and cyclists who flee the scene of an accident.
Among other punishable violations are riding an e-scooter with a passenger, the use of such vehicles on highways, as well as failure to dismount a scooter or bicycle while using a pedestrian crossing.
Last August, Moscow authorities announced a crackdown on e-scooter riders leaving their devices outside of designated parking areas. “Scattered rental and personal e-scooters and bicycles interfere with other road users and pedestrians” and will be impounded, the official statement read.
Authorities in Paris have gone further, removing shareable e-scooters from the city’s streets altogether on September 1, 2023.
With speeds too fast for pedestrian sidewalks and too slow for automobile roads, e-scooters are seen as a major nuisance by many city residents throughout the world.
