Paris tells e-scooter riders to wear safety gear or face fines

Electric scooter riders in Paris face being fined if they fail to comply with new safety rules, as police try to curb the number of accidents in the French capital.

Some 79 people were killed in e-scooter accidents last year, a sharp rise from the 45 who died the year prior, police said on Saturday, citing figures from France’s road safety watchdog.

In a bid to address “the concerning rise in serious and fatal accidents” involving the motorised vehicles, it is now mandatory for riders to wear a helmet and high-vis vest on public roads.

Those who don’t face fines of €135 (£129) for failing to wear an approved helmet, and smaller fines of €35 (£30) for not wearing a vest or retro-reflectors.

The regulations also cover other electric transportation devices, such as electric unicycles and hoverboards.

Official figures show that around 1,100 people were injured in e-scooter accidents in Paris last year, a rise of 33% on the year before.

This is despite Paris banning rental e-scooters in 2023 over safety concerns, while allowing privately owned ones to continue being ridden.

E-scooters remain popular with the commuters in the city, where narrow roads can become congested.

Private e-scooter ownership in Framce is the highest in Europe, according to the EU.

Some 2.5 million people owned e-scooters there as of 2023, with hundreds of thousands more purchased since. Many of these are thought to be in the capital, though exact figures are not kept.

Existing rules in Paris ban e-scooter riding for under-14s, prohibit carrying passengers and set a maximum speed limits of 25km/h (16mph).

Helmets and high-visibility vests are already mandatory in several French regions, including Seine-et-Marne, Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse.

Paris was one of the first cities to adopt e-scooters, but growing concern about dangerous driving and obstructing pavements led to for-hire e-scooters being outlawed.

Their fate was decided in a city-wide referendum, which saw 90% voters back a rental ban even though only 8% of eligible voters turned out.

Other European cities have moved to ban rental e-scooters in recent years, with Madrid outlawing them in 2024 and Brussels announcing it will follow suit in June.