The use of electric scooters may be restricted in Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv plans to develop new rules for the use of electric scooters. The issue was discussed during an open staff meeting of the city council after a series of traffic accidents involving this type of transportation were reported in the city.

Artem Vashchilenko, chairman of the Expert and Public Council, reported that in the past week alone, he had witnessed three accidents involving electric scooters, one of which resulted in serious injuries to children.

“Back in 2023, the Supreme Court classified riding an electric scooter as a high-risk activity,” he noted.

According to him, the Expert and Public Council has already analyzed the experience of other countries and Ukrainian cities regarding the regulation of electric scooter traffic. Specifically, Paris has completely banned electric scooter rentals, Madrid strictly regulates rental operators, and in Toronto, electric scooters are prohibited on roads, sidewalks, and in public spaces. In Singapore, electric scooter use on sidewalks was banned as early as 2019 due to numerous incidents involving pedestrians.

Examples from Ukrainian cities were also cited during the discussion. In Ternopil, electric scooters have already been banned from the pedestrian zone in the city center, and rental companies have been required to limit the vehicles’ speed. In Lviv, proposals include setting a minimum user age of 16, mandating the use of helmets, verifying age via mobile apps, and identifying accident-prone areas where scooter speeds will be limited.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych supported the need to regulate this issue and instructed the relevant departments to study the proposed measures to determine which ones could be implemented in Mykolaiv.

Recently, in a traffic accidentin the Mykolaiv region, 12 people were killed, and six are in the hospital. According to investigators, the driver of a Nissan Murano caused the accident by driving toward a minibus in his own lane. This caused the Mercedes Sprinter passenger minibus to veer off the road, roll over, and end up in the oncoming lane, where it collided with a Volvo truck. 

Андрій Колісніченко