The speed of e-scooters in Paris has been reduced to 10 km / h in parts of the center by the three large rental companies since Monday. Areas in which e-scooters and pedestrians have often got in each other's way are affected, reported the newspaper Le Parisien on Monday. This includes tourist attractions, parks, schools and plazas. On the initiative of the city administration, there had already been a test at the Louvre Museum and a few other places in the summer. Now the lessors of a total of 15,000 electric scooters in Paris have decided to expand the “slow zones” at a reduced pace.
The speed reduction is automatically given to the scooters via their GPS location. As soon as the scooter drives into one of the designated zones, it slows down. For the users of the scooters, the affected areas are shown in the landlord's apps. As the providers explained, the “slow zones” could be further adapted at the request of the city administration. The latter is not yet satisfied with the voluntary step taken by the providers. As the mobility officer at the Paris City Hall, David Belliard, told Parisien, the banks of the Seine and busy shopping areas are not yet covered by the speed limit.
Incidentally, the speed reduction in the electric scooters is not completely new. As the broadcaster France 3 reported, there is already such a restriction in New York and Barcelona as well as in some Parisian suburbs. In Germany, the vehicles are allowed to travel between 6 and 20 kilometers per hour.
In view of a large number of accidents with e-scooters in Paris, with 329 injuries and two deaths this year, the city is also pondering selective bans on scooters and their use by two or three people at the same time.
In order to increase safety, the three landlords have meanwhile decided to introduce a “beginner mode” in Paris in addition to the speed limit, which reduces the scooters to 15 km / h across the board.
This mode can be set by people who are using a scooter for the first time and do not feel safe.