Paris threatens to ban e-scooters after hit-and-run death
The City of Paris has said it is considering a ban e-scooters if the companies who operate them don't enforce speed limits and other rules. The warning comes after an Italian woman died earlier this month after being hit by two women, who fled the scene.
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"Either the situation improves significantly and scooters find their place in public areas without causing problems, in particular for pedestrians, or we look at getting rid of them completely," said Paris deputy mayor David Belliard, in charge of transportation, on Tuesday.
"Other cities have done it," he said, citing the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux as well as New York and Barcelona.
On Saturday, police charged a nurse with wilful homicide over the fatal collision with "Miriam", a 32-year-old Italian woman living in Paris, who was standing on the banks of the Seine talking with friends when she was hit.
The rider and a passenger on the same scooter fled the scene and were found after a 10-day search.
The woman's death, which brings to at least three the number of people fatally hit by e-scooters in Paris since 2019, revived the debate over allowing the devices on the city's streets.
15,000 e-scooters for rental
Some 15,000 devices are available for rental across the city, where they are supposed to be speed limited to 20 km/h, with only one rider, and only on streets or bike paths.
Critics say those rules are hardly enforced, and complain that scooters are often dumped on sidewalks or in squares.
Pour notre sécurité, les 3 opérateurs devront brider la vitesse des #trotinettes à 10 km/h maximum dans les zones piétonnes et rues aux écoles. Et dès aujourd'hui, ce bridage devra être respecté dans 10 «slow zones» du centre de Paris. https://t.co/TzfGGklB3s
— David Belliard (@David_Belliard) June 30, 2021
Belliard said he had summoned executives from the three e-scooter operators, Lime, Dott and Tier, telling them he had received "much negative feedback about scooters on sidewalks, the sense of insecurity, and scooters abandoned in the streets".
Their contracts, which add nearly one million euros a year to the city's coffers, run through October 2022, when they risk not being renewed, Belliard said.
He added that starting Wednesday, operators must ensure that scooter speeds do not exceed 10 km/h in several "slow zones" in central Paris, including the popular République and Bastille squares, where the city has recently added large pedestrian zones.
Operators are able to install speed brakes that come on automatically if the scooter enters slow zones, which are programmed into the GPS units.
(with AFP)
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