Alexander Dybin

Over the past few years, electric scooters have turned from a rare entertainment into a phenomenon that has captured the cities of the country.

Means of individual mobility (monowheels, segways and gyroscuters also fall into this category), according to the director of the Association of Micromobility Operators Ksenia Erdman, scooters have become full-fledged road users:

"The sale of SIM has almost doubled over the past two years," she said, "in 2022, about 230,000 thousand units were sold, and 85 percent of them are electric scooters. In 2020, sales were at 145,000. According to the forecast, this growth of 50% per year will continue. If we talk about the scooter rental market, then over the 2022 season, more than 15 million people used the kicksharing service, the number of trips increased more than 2 times and left 103 million. The scooter fleet has 200,000 units in 190 cities of Russia. At the same time, up to 80% of all trips on electric scooters are made for transport purposes – to work or a transport hub. This is, first of all, a vehicle that affects the transport situation of cities".

Such a proliferation of light and fast means of transportation gives not only advantages.

The number of conflicts with pedestrians is growing. There is no season for scooters not to hit someone on the sidewalk. The number of accidents is estimated in the hundreds per year. Naturally, in this situation, the rules of the road should have appeared. In many ways, electric scooters equalized with bicycles. But not in everything.

What will change for the two-wheeled

The main thing that the rules establish is priority. It is given to a pedestrian. On the sidewalk or in the pedestrian zone, the biped is always right. Honking in the back to be missed, it is forbidden to adjust. If the scooter interferes with the pedestrian flow, it must either dismount or move at pedestrian speed.

Where can I move on a SIM? In fact, everywhere. Ideally, along bike paths or bike lanes. If there are none, walk along the sidewalk without disturbing pedestrians. If there is no sidewalk, you can drive along the curb or the extreme right edge of the roadway. But there is a nuance. Only those SIM that are equipped with brakes and lighting devices can travel on highways. Only scooters fall under this requirement. Monowheels, gyroscooters and segways on the roadway are illegal. Another requirement is that you can only travel on those roads where the permitted speed does not exceed 60 km/ h. A scooter on the MKAD will automatically become a violator. And in general, the speed of the SIM is limited to 25 kilometers per hour, wherever he moves.

In addition, the rules allow you to regulate the flow of scooters and install signs prohibiting movement or prescribing to slow down.

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