For five years, they have invaded the urban space. Practical, useful, they are also involved in serious accidents. Scooters will be subject to new rules next fall. Survey in Lyon.
The Lyonnais discovered them in 2018. At the time, they were questioning. How would scooters change travel? What rules should apply? What risks were taken in using them?
In five years, the city of Lyon has had to adapt. Initially, there were ten different operators offering their short-term rental service. The inhabitants still remember the anarchy that reigned. Scooters parked on the sidewalks, left on the ground or even thrown into the Rhône.
As for the users, they were discovering a new means of transport. Faster, simpler and fun.
What is attractive is the impulsive, unforeseen aspect of use. As soon as we set rules, such as compulsory parking or soon the compulsory wearing of helmets, we will come up against this freedom of action.
Stéphanie Vincent, Doctor in sociology at the Economics and Transport Planning Laboratory of Lyon
The rules will change. In 2015, 164 accidents were recorded. They rose to 1197 in 2019. A 700% increase!
Sometimes fatal accidents. In 2022, two young people are killed while riding together on their scooter. Recently, a young woman was hit by a car, her vital prognosis was engaged.
Gilles Bagou is an emergency doctor at the SAMU in Lyon, he carried out a study, the only one to date in France, on the consequences of these accidents.
In these accidents, men are twice as numerous as women. For 1/4 of the population, they are young people between 20 and 24 years old. The lesions, in 37% of cases, are cerebral.
Gilles Bagou, emergency anesthetist at SAMU Lyon
Very quickly, the authorities reacted. The city of Lyon has “cleaned up”. Of the ten operators present at the start, only two remain. An agreement is made. The operators undertake to be virtuous, the city accompanies them. Concretely, parking spaces are reserved for scooters. Operators are developing prototypes, like this scooter that detects the presence of two people on the machine. If so, it stops automatically.
Next fall, the state will tighten the regulations. Lyon will prohibit rental to those under 18, limit the maximum authorized speed to 20 km / h and propose to register scooters to find the perpetrators of offenses.
At present, wearing a helmet is “recommended” but not (yet) compulsory. Traffic is prohibited on the sidewalks and compulsory on the cycle paths. The speed is limited to 25 km/h. Must be at least 12 years old. At nightfall, users must wear a retro-reflective vest. We must not ride two on the machine, at the risk of receiving a fine of 35 euros.
Finally, it is recalled that users must be insured, as for the use of a car or a motorcycle.
2023-06-29 05:25:55
#VIDEO #Selfservice #scooters #rules #Lyon
