Rome to impose new e-scooter restrictions

Rome is set to impose new rules on the use of e-scooters after a number of serious incidents in the city.

Authorities will restrict e-scooter use to adults with an ID and also clamp down on people riding on pavements and scooters with more than one person on board.

Under the proposals put forward by the city the top speed limit would be 20 kmph, or 6 kmph in pedestrian areas.

There will also be restrictions on parking, and users will be required to take a photograph of their vehicle and send it to the operator at the end of their journey,

Companies would have their maximum hourly rental rate capped at €12 (US$12.60) and would be required to maintain a minimum of 70 metres between parked scooters belonging to the same operator, with a maximum of five vehicles per block.

Rome City Council’s Head of Mobility, Eugenio Patanè, has previously said the e-scooters pose a danger to people and “the beauty of the city”.

Seventeen people have been killed in Italy over the past two years after incidents involving e-scooters, according to the Italian consumer protection association Codacons.

‘Alarmist tones’

The e-scooter rental market has boomed in recent years in the Italian capital, with 14,500 scooters provided by seven licensed companies currently on the streets.

On January 1, 2023, the city will renew the permission for just 9,000 scooters and reduce the number of companies allowed to rent them to three.

Assosharing, Italy’s shared mobility trade association, said in a statement that accidents involving e-scooters were rare – 44 for every 10,000 scooters – with serious incidents largely confined to privately owned equipment.

“The alarmist tones are, in essence, disconnected from reality,” the statement read. “First of all, it should be made clear that the use of vehicles in Rome is in line with other European capitals.”

Earlier this month, two tourists were each fined €400 after one threw their e-scooter down the city’s Spanish Steps, causing €25,000 worth of damage. The pair were also banned from returning to the monument.

Image: Kelly Sikkema (unsplash)