How to deal with the rampant old scooter
Investigation on the chaos in the production, sales and use of scooters in the old age
● Low-speed electric three-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles are loved by the elderly because they do not require a driver's license and licenses, so they are called "old age scooter".
However, according to relevant laws and regulations, this type of scooter is not in the National Motor Vehicle Product Announcement Catalog. It is an assembled vehicle, that is, a non-standard three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle. It cannot be registered and cannot be driven on the road.
● The potential safety hazards brought by scooters in the old age cannot be ignored. In addition to the quality of the vehicles themselves, some drivers are not very aware of traffic safety, and they often have illegal behaviors such as red light running and retrograde, and the number of traffic accidents caused is also high.
● Relevant functional departments should strengthen the safety supervision of non-standard three- and four-wheeled vehicles from the source, and strictly prohibit the production and sale of electric vehicles that do not meet the standards. Electric vehicles and motor vehicle manufacturers must strictly implement the compulsory certification (CCC) requirements
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Guan Chuyu, an intern of our newspaper
On the afternoon of November 29th, the housewife Yang Lan (pseudonym) drove an old scooter skillfully to pick up her children from school.
In her opinion, “the old scooter is too convenient. It does not require a license, does not require a driver’s license, has not been stopped by a traffic police, and can quickly pass through congested roads.”
Yang Lan lives in a village in Jizhou District, Tianjin. She has not taken a driver’s license training test and cannot drive a motor vehicle.
In order to transport their children to and from school, the couple recently bought a second-hand four-wheeled scooter for 7,600 yuan.
After tasting the sweetness, Yang Lan would drive this old scooter as long as she went a little further away. She had not thought about the risks that this car might bring while it was convenient.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law" recently found that because of the low price, small size of the vehicle, and ease of operation and driving, many people like Yang Lan and his wife like the old scooters.
However, the potential safety hazards brought about by this cannot be ignored. In addition to the quality of the vehicle itself, some drivers are not very aware of traffic safety, and illegal behaviors such as red light running and retrograde often occur, and the number of traffic accidents caused is also high.
How to standardize the management of scooters in the old age has become a difficult problem to be solved urgently by relevant departments and localities.
Old scooters are popular
But it is non-standard and no right of way
At the Military Academy Plaza in Lianchi District, Baoding City, Hebei Province, there are usually many elderly people in the square. There are many old scooters parked on the roadside of the square.
Recently, the reporter went to the square to observe for half an hour and found that many elderly people drove old-age scooters through the motorway, some were slow, some did not abide by traffic rules, compacted lines, ran red lights, stopped at will, and some even pressed their horns. .
Li Lin (pseudonym) is a taxi driver in Baoding City. He often sees people driving old scooter on the road, ignoring traffic laws and running rampant, suddenly turning, changing lanes or stopping when driving straight. "It's terrible. Now except for the elderly In addition to people, many young people are also driving scooters, some of them are to solicit customers to make money."
In recent years, low-speed electric three-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles have become popular among the elderly because they do not require a driver's license or a license, so they are known as "old age scooter".
According to the traffic management department, in accordance with the "Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", "Technical Conditions for Motor Vehicle Operation Safety", "Terminals and Definitions of Motor Vehicle Types" and other laws, regulations and relevant standards, the three power-driven devices currently on the market , Four-wheeled vehicles, all produced without the permission of the national motor vehicle product authority, are not in the national motor vehicle product announcement catalog, and belong to assembled vehicles, that is, non-standard three- or four-wheeled vehicles. There are not only electric but also fuel and oil Electric hybrid type.
This type of vehicle cannot be registered and cannot be driven on the road.
Wang Xixin, a professor at Peking University Law School, pointed out that there is no clear concept of the old scooter in law. It is a concept hyped by manufacturers and sellers to meet the needs of elderly consumers.
"If it is really used to transport the elderly, according to national standards, the old scooters should actually refer to electric wheelchairs. They are mainly used for the elderly with inconvenient legs and feet instead of being used as a means of transportation on the road. It is now popular. The low-speed electric three- and four-wheeled vehicles, also known as “new energy electric vehicles” and “low-speed micro-electric vehicles”, have exceeded the scope of “traveling”."
Available both online and offline
Most lack of quality inspection reports
Although the old scooters are non-standard vehicles, many people still use old scooters on the road in their lives, and the demand is high, so stores have been selling such vehicles.
Recently, the reporter visited several stores selling electric vehicles in Tianjin, Baoding and other places.
At the entrance of an old scooter store in Jizhou District, Tianjin, there are more than 10 three- and four-wheel old scooter parked.
The shop owner said that the three-wheeled old scooter is cheaper, about 6,000 yuan; the four-wheeled old scooter is slightly higher, about 10,000 yuan.
In addition to the distinction between three wheels and four wheels, differences in brands and batteries will also affect prices.
In another dealership selling old scooters in Jizhou District, the shop owner told reporters: “Old scooters can run up to 50 kilometers per hour, but most of them have short battery life, with an average of 50 kilometers in summer and about 35 kilometers in winter. The battery life is longer. The advantage of this type of vehicle is that it is convenient to travel, without a license, and the driver can drive without a license."
The reporter's investigation found that the old scooters can be bought not only offline, but also online, with a wide range of purchase channels.
On an e-commerce platform, reporters can retrieve many corresponding products by inputting the old-age scooter. There are also three or four rounds. Depending on the brand and specific configuration, the price ranges from several thousand yuan to two to three million yuan.
In a "Feige Electric Four-wheeler Direct Sales Store" on the platform, a Feige New Energy electric four-wheeler is 290 cm long, 130 cm wide, 170 cm high, with a total load of 1,000 catties and a speed of 45 km/h. H. The vehicle has a total of 4 seats and is equipped with 5 lead-acid batteries with a capacity of 60V70A-60V100A.
The price of the naked car of this vehicle is 11,800 yuan, without shipping; the pure electric model is 14800 yuan; the petrol-electric model is 17800; the air-conditioning model is 19,800 yuan (air-conditioning is added on the basis of the gasoline-electric model). The prices of the latter three models all include the postage. .
"This is an old-fashioned scooter. It doesn't need a driver's license or a license." The store customer service said.
Talking about warranty and after-sales issues, the customer service sent a paper after-sales warranty photo with the official seal of "Tianjin Feige Electric Tricycle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.", indicating maintenance, warranty and transportation issues.
When the reporter asked if there was a business license, the customer service sent a photo of a copy of the business license, named "Xuzhou Zhongfei Electric Motor Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd.", mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of electric vehicles and accessories.
The customer service told reporters that the company with the official seal of the after-sales guarantee is not the same as the company on the business license because the latter is the Xuzhou branch.
Then the reporter searched the above two companies on the Tianyancha App.
The results show that both companies have certain risks. For example, Xuzhou Zhongfei Electric Locomotive Technology Co., Ltd. was included in the list of business abnormalities on November 1, 2019; on June 29 this year, the company violated the "People’s Republic of China Certification" Article 66 of the Accreditation Regulations states that the products listed in the catalogue without certification, leave the factory, sell, import or use them in other business activities without authorization, shall be administratively punished by the market supervision department.
Another "Five Continents General Electric Vehicles" shop, which claims to be "factory direct sales, quality assurance", but there is no product quality inspection report, the customer service only showed the product certificate.
The reporter's investigation found that none of these merchants selling old scooters could produce production licenses and product quality inspection reports.
Some merchants have made it clear that they will not sell in areas with strict supervision such as Beijing and Shanghai.
According to a merchant, the old scooters it sells are all electric scooters, which meet the national standards for the production of electric scooters, and invoices are issued when customers purchase them.
The production certificate and receipt attached to the vehicle can also ensure the safety of the vehicle.
However, it is recommended that customers consult the local traffic management department if they can go on the road and what procedures need to be processed before going on the road.
“Online stores rarely sell fuel-based scooters, because I heard that it’s illegal to drive fuel-based scooters in some areas. But if it’s an electric vehicle, the sales situation will be much better, because it’s usually not possible when you encounter traffic police. Be processed." said the above-mentioned merchant.
Frequent traffic accidents
Safety hazards should not be underestimated
Although the old scooters meet the travel needs of the elderly and become popular after they are listed, the hidden traffic safety hazards they bring should not be underestimated.
The traffic control department of the public security released a set of data in 2019: In the past five years, there have been 830,000 traffic accidents caused by scooters in the old age, of which 18,000 were killed and 186,000 were injured. The number of accidents and the average annual number of deaths were caused. Increased by 23.3% and 30.9% respectively.
According to the Road Traffic Safety Law and other relevant laws and regulations, the old-age scooter meets the definition of a motor vehicle, but it is not included in the list of motor vehicle product announcements issued by the motor vehicle product department of the State Council. It cannot pay road traffic accident compulsory insurance and all compensation after the accident. It is the responsibility of the owner.
Not long ago, it was reported that a 71-year-old man driving an old scooter mistakenly used the accelerator as the brake to hit a pedestrian on the roadside, causing multiple injuries to the pedestrian.
The traffic police determined that the elderly who caused the accident should bear full responsibility for the accident.
Wang Xizin said that there is currently no national standard for the so-called old-age scooter, and its production is not compliant. The installation of a roof, a fully enclosed body and other vehicle modification operations will cause the height, length, and quality of the vehicle to exceed the standard. , And this may bring a series of risks.
"For example, the quality of a car will affect the braking and braking, and the ultra-high and ultra-wide can only enter the motor vehicle lane. These bring great hidden dangers to the driver himself and other road traffic participants." Wang Xizin said.
Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management, Communication University of China, also pointed out that because many old scooter manufacturers lack production qualifications and use inferior and cheap parts, the quality of these vehicles is not high; in addition, the drivers are mostly elderly. Lack of relevant training and weak traffic safety awareness; furthermore, because there is no relevant insurance, damage compensation is difficult to implement in the event of a traffic accident.
These series of factors have brought safety hazards to the old scooters on the road.
Supervision measures introduced in multiple places
Governance measures vary
Recognizing that there are many hidden safety hazards in the old scooters, relevant departments and localities have successively introduced supervision methods.
However, because the old scooters are not only electric, but also fuel, and even hybrid, which really facilitates the travel of the elderly, and there is no national standard, the measures to manage the old scooters vary from place to place.
In Beijing, on July 12 this year, the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Violating Electric Three- and Four-Wheeled Vehicles", clearly setting a transition period for illegal electric three- and four-wheeled vehicles. The transition period will end on December 31, 2023. .
After the transition period, illegal electric three- and four-wheelers are not allowed to drive on the road, and are not allowed to park in public places such as roads, squares, and parking lots.
Those who drive or park illegally on the road will be investigated and punished by law enforcement agencies in accordance with the law.
In Shanghai, on October 9, 2020, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government issued the "Notice on Further Reducing Road Traffic Accidents in the City", requesting the Market Supervision Bureau to strengthen the supervision and management of the production and sales of electric bicycles. To produce and sell electric bicycles that do not meet the national mandatory standards, as well as vehicles that are prohibited from driving on the roads of this city, such as old scooters and modified tricycles.
Enterprises that produce or sell substandard products in violation of regulations shall be ordered to rectify and be strictly punished and exposed publicly in accordance with the law.
In Jiangsu, on January 19, 2019, the General Office of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Road Traffic Safety Management of Electric Vehicles", stipulating the transition to electric bicycles and low-speed electric three- and four-wheelers that receive temporary information signs. For period management, a transition period of no more than 5 years is set. After the transition period expires, it is not allowed to drive on the road. If the state has relevant regulations, follow its regulations.
In addition to setting a transition period, there are places where illegal electric three- and four-wheelers are directly "cleared."
For example, Puyang City in Henan Province made it clear that before November 30 this year, residential communities (urban villages) will fully implement illegal electric (machine) three-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles.
In addition, the reporter learned that there are also some places that have not formulated any management measures for the old scooters.
Control the source and ban on the road
Work together to govern and protect security
There is a long way to go to control the chaos of scooter in the old age.
The interviewed experts unanimously proposed that, judging from the existing road conditions, facilities and road space distribution, there is no corresponding travel route for the old scooters. Therefore, the old scooters should be cut off from the source. "There is no production and sales. There is no use case".
"Old-generation scooters that have not been filed with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology should be illegal electric three- or four-wheelers, and they should be banned from sale and on the road. As a result, the number of people who buy them will naturally decrease." Wang Xixin said.
He also proposed that the industry and information department, market supervision department and road traffic management department should jointly supervise and enforce the law.
For example, from the source of production, the industry and information department should manage the qualifications of the manufacturers; the market supervision department supervises the quality and sales of the products; the road traffic management department supervises the old scooters on the road.
The traffic control department interviewed by the reporter also suggested that relevant functional departments should strengthen the safety supervision of non-standard three- and four-wheeled vehicles from the source, strictly prohibit the production and sales of electric vehicles that do not meet the standards, and manufacturers of electric vehicles and motor vehicles should strictly implement mandatory regulations. Certification (CCC) requirements.
"At the same time, all electric vehicle products that have not obtained the CCC certification shall not be shipped or sold, and the production and sales of illegally modified electric vehicles shall be strictly investigated, and the production and sales enterprises shall be ordered to stop production and sales according to law; if the circumstances are serious, the business license shall be revoked; Those who commit a crime shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law. The electric vehicle recall system shall be implemented in accordance with laws and regulations, strictly deal with enterprises that illegally produce and sell low-speed electric three- and four-wheeler products, resolutely shut down enterprises that illegally produce and sell products, and investigate and deal with relevant persons responsible." The relevant person in charge of the above-mentioned traffic control department said.
Manga / Takaoka