Debate article: "Now we will throw away dangerously parked electric scooters"

It has been over a hundred years since a whole new mode of transport emerged in our cities - until now, when the electric scooter bikes made its way around Europe and North America.

In Sweden, there are today the electric scooters in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala and Helsingborg. They are used and appreciated by many, but also create irritation and problems, not least for people with disabilities.

The electric scooters are here to stop but need better control. Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity for municipalities to clearly regulate operations today.

In Stockholm, as a traffic citizen council, I have initiated a declaration of intent between the city and the companies that provide electric scooters in the city. In this way, we have among other things got the companies to impose parking bans in many areas of the city.

This means, for example, that you cannot park in, for example, the Old Town with narrow alleys and cultural-historical environments.

This is not something we as a municipality can force companies to do. As the legislation and the traffic regulation are designed, electric bicycle bikes are classified as bicycles, and bicycles are entitled to park in principle anywhere on municipal land for 24 hours.

We also do not have the right to limit the possibility of driving in a certain place or to force the companies to act when users park incorrectly. Therefore, the government should change the legislation quickly.

Among other things, the legislation should be amended so that municipalities can impose parking bans specifically for electric scooters in places where appropriate, without this having to hang on a good dialogue with the commercial operators.

I also want to see the opportunity to make it mandatory to exhibit rental scooters on public land. Some voices in the debate have argued that we already know this, but the police have been very clear towards Stockholm city.

It's not possible. The current legislation states that the electric scooters should be seen as bicycles. Thus, the Police conclude that "a company that exhibits bicycles in a public place that is used relatively immediately by various users who leave them in another location and so on cannot be considered to fall within the rules of the Ordinance Act in Chapter 3 of the Ordinance Act".

The police thus mean that it is not possible today to use, among other things, the Ordinance Act to require a permit to exhibit electric scooter bicycles in Sweden's cities. Therefore, the legislation must be clarified.

With a permit requirement or a licensing system, Stockholm and other cities could impose requirements on the commercial operators regarding how they inform users, how they handle fault parking and the number of electric scooters.

The municipalities and companies themselves have a responsibility, but only the Riksdag and the government can change the legislation and change this. But it also rests with the users themselves.

For those types of traffic that have been on the streets for a long time in both Sweden and the rest of Europe, there is not only legislation but also clear social norms on how to behave in traffic.

There are both legislation and clear standards regarding how and where you park your car and bike. For most of us, it is obvious that the car is parked in a P-box and the bicycle is locked to a bicycle rack. These types of norms need to arise even around the electric scooters.

I welcome the fact that Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth has opened up the possibility of reviewing legislation regarding electric scooter bikes in the days .

They could give municipalities more tools to both regulate the role of electric scooters in traffic, as well as provide the opportunity to force companies to ensure that their service promotes road safety - does not counteract it.

In anticipation of this work, we will now try to use somewhat odd and curvy legislation that is intended when cars are dangerous and obstructive. The rules on disposal.

Already two weeks ago, the City of Stockholm announced the electric scooter companies that during the autumn we will start collecting electric scooter bicycles that are dangerous to traffic and prevent traffic.

Administratively this is burdensome and should instead be the responsibility of the electric scooter companies. If we are required to obtain a permit, we will be able to get the new one to rhyme with the public's perception of what is a functioning city.