For many cities, the 21st century has been one where residents and visitors alike have a growing range of options to get around. Bicycle rental programs like New York City’s Citi Bike have caught on in a host of cities, with their offerings starting to include electric bikes. Electric scooters have also become popular rentals in multiple urban spaces — though not for much longer in Paris. Residents of the city recently took part in a vote on the future of electric scooter rentals, and the response was overwhelmingly against continuing to rent said vehicles in the city.
The Guardian‘s reporting offers some clues as to why the vote was called — and why it went the way that it did. Last year, 459 people were injured while riding electric scooters, three of them fatally. Another reason cited by The Guardian was the way in which many of the scooters were operated — which is to say, not in a way that respected local traffic laws.
Around 90% of those who voted did so in favor of banning electric scooter rentals, reports Autoblog. There’s one slight caveat there, depending on how you choose to interpret it — voter turnout was relatively low for this particular election. That might suggest that more people were indifferent to the issue, but those who felt strongly about it were largely very negative on the subject.
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Host Mark Wolters shares tips, tricks and advice for anyone planning a trip during this tumultuous travel seasonThis Paris vote is part of an increase in regulation on many smaller-scale electric vehicles. New York City recently took steps to regulate e-bikes to reduce the risk of electrical fires. Paris’s election on this issue might be a unique event, or it might lead to an uptick in similarly-minded votes before long.
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