April 2023
Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE) members take road safety very seriously and all operators are committed to ensuring the highest level of safety, from vehicle conception to rider education and safety solutions.
We welcome the recent report of the European Transport Safety Council proposing a series of policy measures related to scooter safety. We are encouraged by the growing focus on the safety of scooter riders as well as the acknowledgement that they are vulnerable road users. Moreover, we welcome the call of ETSC’s Executive Director on cities to put in place networks of separate cycle lanes and appropriate speed limits.
When adopting new policies to protect e-scooter riders and other vulnerable road users, investments in safe cycling and walking infrastructure are essential. This need to act has been identified by policy-makers: the European Parliament’s Resolution for a Cycling Strategy and the TRAN Committee’s Resolution on the New Urban Mobility Framework have in the last months identified that segregated infrastructure is a key enabler for urban road safety. The ITF’s Safe Micromobility report finds that ‘governments can have the most significant impact on traffic safety through investment in infrastructure’.
Besides the need for infrastructure, there is a lack of available and comparable data on incidents involving e-scooters. In a first-of-its- kind effort, MMfE aggregated data covering more than 200 million trips from 2021 shows that the risk of incidents that require medical treatment declined by 60% compared to 2019, and shared e-scooters have a twice lower fatality risk when compared with private e- scooters.
Moreover, there is no safety without enforcement. MMfE believes that it is of utmost importance to ensure that rules for all traffic participants are clear, well-communicated, and consistently enforced by the responsible authorities.
In the following, Micro-Mobility for Europe is providing its view on the policy recommendations identified by the report, many of which MMfE fully supports, while some require more research, evidence or industry consultation.
See the full report here.
