The new trends in urban mobility have turned the electric scooter into a new means of transport. The proliferation of this type of personal mobility vehicle (VMP) in large urban centers has reached such an extreme that two years ago the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) was forced to draw up regulations to regulate their use. Subsequently, in March 2022, with the entry into force of the new Traffic Law, the DGT establishes very clearly where scooters can circulate and where they cannot.
Despite the fact that the Traffic Law includes in the regulatory text the minimums that both electric scooters and their drivers must meet, in reality it is the municipalities that are in charge of regulating their use specifically through mobility plans. One of the points contemplated by the municipal ordinances on the VMP refers to the rental services of this type of vehicle, so it is the municipalities that are in charge of allowing or not the implementation of the scooter rental companies in each one. of their municipalities.
The decision adopted in a referendum by the citizens of Paris to expel rental scooters from the city has also put this issue at the center of the debate in Spain. But at the moment it does not seem that the municipal rulers are in the business of holding a consultation like the one organized last weekend by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, or directly modifying the mobility ordinances.
From the general director of the DGT, Pere Navarro, to the mayors and mobility managers consulted by EFE, no one seems to be in favor of banning rental scooters. “Everything can be done with regulations, but sometimes I have the impression that we are in an excessively prohibitionist era,” Navarro said after being questioned about the Parisians’ decision. “The referendum looks good because it is a decision of all citizens, but I don’t know if it would be necessary,” the head of the DGT elaborated, opining that if a consultation like the one in Paris were held, the result would also be mostly against the companies for rent.
Pere Navarro recalled that the municipal corporations of Barcelona and Bilbao have already decided to ban electric scooter rental companies and insisted on the need to regulate their use “well”. Although he did not mention it, Valencia has not had rental services for these personal mobility vehicles since 2019 either. “Sometimes you can’t even walk down the street because (the scooters) are all lying around,” complains the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo.
In the cities where scooter rental companies are implemented, it is not expected that a consultation will be carried out in this regard. The mayor of Madrid, José Luis MartÃnez-Almeida, pointed out that he does not “share” that the “solution” regarding scooters is to “prohibit”, as “the left usually does”, while the government team of the Zaragoza city council also has ruled out calling a consultation. In Valladolid, the use of scooters has not been banned, but the City Council launched its new municipal bicycle rental service just two months ago, which aims to get users of electric scooters to abandon this means of transport and replace it with electric scooters. bikes.
In Seville, the Voi company, the only electric scooter rental operator in the city, is not afraid that the results of the Paris referendum will affect its fleet, due to the differences between the French and Spanish markets. Likewise, he points out that to this is added an increase in the use and popularity of this transport in the Andalusian capital.
In fact, according to a study carried out by the LÃnea Directa Foundation in collaboration with the Spanish Road Safety Foundation (FESVIAL), up to 17 million Spaniards admit to being regular users of electric scooters or electric bicycles, which undoubtedly increases the risks of having an accident.
In 2021, 13 people died in electric scooter accidents in Spain, more than double the number in 2020. The accidents were caused by falls (5), collisions with other vehicles (5) and run-overs (3), according to the data compiled by the Mapfre Foundation.