Paris has officially banned e-scooters

Paris has recently made headlines for its decision to ban electric scooters from its streets starting in August. Quite the upsetting news for regular e-scooter users of the city. The move comes after a surge in accidents and complaints from residents about the dangers and nuisances caused by the popular mode of transportation. The decision to ban electric scooters in Paris was not taken lightly. The city has been grappling with the rise of shared electric scooters, which have flooded its streets in recent years. Companies like Lime, Bird, and Dott have deployed thousands of scooters across the city, offering a cheap and convenient way for locals and tourists to get around. 

It came as no surprise that the results of the vote would end up negative, as obvious as it might be, the answer to the question was given away the second they asked the question. On one side, giving the chance to vote against something to the people who were not for the cause to start with gave them big motivations to go vote. But on the other side, the ones who did use these scooters didn’t care much about this vote, since people generally don’t vote to state that they like something that doesn’t bring them much more than functionality, so needless to say it was an obvious loss. However, the popularity of electric scooters has also led to a rise in accidents and injuries. According to the Paris Police Department, there were over 408 electric scooter accidents in Paris in 2022, with 3 fatalities and hurting 459 others. Many of these accidents were caused by reckless driving, speeding, and riding on sidewalks. But these numbers of accidents are a little bit different than what they seem to be. They actually represent all individually motorized vehicles, like e-scooters but also segways, mono wheels, hoverboards, and more. So we don’t really know what the real number of escooter accidents is which is slightly misleading and confusing for escooter users who are losing their favorite means of transport. 

Aside from the dangerous aspects of these e-scooters, the city has also expressed concerns about the environmental impact of electric scooters, as they require frequent charging and maintenance, which can contribute to pollution and waste. There will always be escooters in the city, at least for now, the only difference is that their pilots will be their actual owners. In fact, escooter companies are probably rubbing their hands together and already foreseeing a rise in their sales in the months to come. An end of a fast and convenient era, some might say.