Italy introduces new safety rules for private e-scooters

Italy’s transport minister Matteo Salvini has announced a series of measures aimed at improving the safety of e-scooters on city streets.

Last week the Italian last parliament gave approval to a bill requiring riders to wear helmets and be insured.

“No more wild scooters,” Salvini said in a social media post, adding that e-scooters will also be required to have licence plates and be banned from cycle lanes, pedestrian areas and non-urban roads.

Accidents

While e-scooters have proved popular in Italian cities, the number of accidents and injuries from their use has steadily increased.

Road accidents involving e-scooters rose to 3,365 in 2023, with 21 deaths – up from 2,929 injuries and 16 deaths in 2022, according to Istat, the national statistics agency.

But e-scooter operators have been quick to point out that the data actually shows the benefits of shared e-scooters over private vehicles.

“We think this is not [a] reasonable law intervention according to accidents’ data,” Giorgio Cappiello, Policy Manager, Bird told Cities Today.

“In 2022 (the year mentioned in the bill summary) all sharing companies active in Italy reported 372 accidents – on 25 million of rents – with zero deaths.

“On the other hand, the Italian National Institute of Statistic reported 2,929 accidents in 2022, with 16 deaths and these data totally refer to private e-scooters – not sharing.”

Mandatory rules

Cappiello added that the previous law which was amended in 2021 already provides for a mandatory speed limit of 20 km/h, designated areas where e-scooters are permitted and mandatory third-party-liability insurance.

“These three elements are able to reduce accidents with e-scooters and the proof is that private e-scooters are the only vehicles involved in serious accidents.

“Our point of view is quite simple: the government’s focus should have been to extend to private e-scooters the rules that sharing has long had.”

There are approximately 55,000 rental e-scooters in cities and towns across Italy, but the rapid increase in numbers in tourist hotspots like Rome has led to a backlash from residents, particularly around the issue of parking and reckless driving.

Looking at mandatory helmet rules, Cappiello said e-scooter sharing companies were “not obliged” to make them available for users, adding it was also not legally allowed.

“It is not possible – the Italian regulation (not modified by this latest intervention) does not allow for the carrying of objects on scooters so we could not attach a helmet to the vehicle.”

Enrico Stefàno, Senior Public Policy Manager, Lime (who previously served as the City of Rome’s Transportation Committee Chair) said attaching helmets to e-scooters could cost €1 million (US$1.05 million) and cause rentals to drop by 25 percent.

Image: Vriesela Dreamstime