Madrid Issues Ban On Electric Scooters

After Los Angeles and other cities in the US, the authorities of Madrid have finally issued a ban on e-scooters from operating in the city. All e-scooters companies have a time frame of 72 hours to remove all electric scooters. After that, any scooters belonging to any company appearing on the streets of Madrid will be removed by the city council.

Madrid’s ban is formed after a global pushback against the use of these two-wheeled vehicles on the streets. These protesters state that electric scooters can pose a threat to the city as they don’t have any guidelines to follow. Not only that, after the incident in which a 90-year-old pedestrian was killed after being hit by an electric scooter while walking inside the pedestrian zone, it is urgent for Madrid’s authorities to ban these dangerous vehicles.

The 90-year-old pedestrian mishap was not the only incident happened. According to reports, since this summer, there have been 22 accidents caused by electric scooters, 8 among these involved pedestrians.

In Madrid, there are three main electric scooters companies: Wind, VOI and Lime. According to the city’s laws, electric scooters can only operate in single-lanes streets and bicycles lane, with a 30kmph speed limit. The council says that these companies do not follow the laws.

Madrid city environment and mobility coordinator, Inés Sabanés, said that a deadline was given to these companies. If these companies want to continue their operations, they have to meet some requirements. Agglomerations need to be avoided. Moreover, the rides’ starting and finishing points must be in authorized areas.

As the council is said to be evaluating these companies’ licensing applications, the ban might not be permanent. Sabanés mentioned that only if these companies carry out necessary adjustments, they will be able to reapply for licensing. The council is coming up with more rules, including restricting the maximum speed to 25 kmph.

Not long ago, a Cambridge based e-scooters company has made an announcement that its next e-scooter model equipped with self-diagnosis and self-repair feature, would be able to get rid of all of these e-scooter flaws.