Legal regulation of the use of electric scooters. National regulations against the solutions of selected European countries.

The urbanisation process has recently undergone a period of relative regression in Poland, which seems particularly interesting when we contrast this phenomenon with the pan-European trend of increasing urban population. In the European Union, approximately 75% of EU citizens already live in urban centres [1] . In the Polish Republic, meanwhile, this percentage increased until the turn of the 20th century, when it reached its peak of around 62% [2] . Since then, the housing tendencies of Poles have tended to show counter-urban characteristics, associated with the increasing migration of middle-class people to rural areas. However, this phenomenon did not prevent the development of urban centres, especially the most populous ones. Due to external factors, including global trends of migration of people from poor countries to Europe, the population of Warsaw increased from 1.672 to 1.860 million between 2000 and 2021 [3] . In 2022, the capital saw a particular increase in population, primarily due to the huge number of refugees from Ukraine arriving in Poland [4] .

In view of the above, it should come as no surprise that there is a constant need for progress in the smart mobility sector and the introduction of appropriate regulations related to the implementation of modern solutions for public use. One of the basic, but at the same time most difficult challenges for public authorities in the development of large urban agglomerations is the proper organisation of transport and the implementation of appropriate transport solutions. This includes, first and foremost, the effective management of the public transport network, the appropriate adaptation of traffic regulations, as well as the rapid response of legislators to technological innovations related to mobility in its broadest sense. A few years ago, devices for individual personal transport began to appear en masse on city streets. One of the primary pieces of equipment of this type are electric scooters commonly found on city pavements. The positive impact of the popularity of this type of device on the environment and the reduction of traffic congestion is not in doubt, but it is worth bearing in mind the dangers that the prevalence of these means of transport entails.

The presence of electric scooters in urban spaces is based on two basic pillars of ownership. Firstly, a significant proportion of such vehicles are privately owned by their drivers. Secondly, the development of companies involved in the professional rental of scooters by the minute (Lime, Bolt, Dott, Tier, Blinkee.city) has resulted in a growing phenomenon that is referred to in English as the ‘scooter-sharing system’ [5]. From the perspective of urban development in the smart-city area, it seems particularly beneficial to base e-scooter transport on a collective system of paid exchanges between individual users, although it is worth noting in passing that the downside of such a solution is undoubtedly the need for an intermediary in the form of a professional entity providing sharing services and centralising the vehicle exchange system. The possibility of ‘bypassing’ the intermediary would be something that would definitely be beneficial to city dwellers, especially in terms of financial savings, a prospect made possible by the recently gaining popularity of Blockchain technology.

According to research conducted in March 2020 by the IBRIS Institute for Market and Social Research, the attitude of Polish women and men towards personal transport devices can be assessed as positive. As many as 83% of respondents stated that they are able to replace the car on shorter distances, 91% of respondents see a positive impact of the popularisation of personal electric vehicles on air quality in urban areas. 75% of the respondents feel positively about the appearance of these vehicles on streets and pavements [6].

Following the amendment of the Road Traffic Law of 20 June 1997, which came into force on 20 May 2021, the Polish legislation distinguishes between a ‘personal transport device’, which is understood to be an electrically-propelled vehicle, excluding an electric scooter, without a seat and pedals, structurally designed to be moved exclusively by the rider on that vehicle, and an ‘electric scooter’, which is an electrically-propelled, two-axle vehicle, with handlebars, without a seat and pedals, structurally designed to be moved exclusively by the rider on that vehicle [7]. Of the second definition cited, the last phrase in particular, emphasising the ability of the electric scooter to move only individually, seems to be important. This responds to the frequently occurring, dangerous and irrational behaviour of users of the aforementioned means of transport to use the vehicle in question with two people.

Until May 2021, even before the aforementioned amendment to the Road Traffic Act came into force, electric scooters were de lege lata treated as pedestrians. This legal state of affairs resulted from a gap in the system of normative acts. As a result of the rather rapid development of the technology in question, as well as the protraction of legislative work on the relevant regulations, there was a lack of regulations in any way regulating the movement of scooters in public space. Given the technical capabilities of these vehicles, which are able to develop relatively high speeds through efficient electric propulsion, such a situation was unacceptable from the perspective of the need to ensure the safety of pedestrians. It is worth mentioning that Western European countries managed to enact appropriate regulations much earlier (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom) [8], and the legislators’ tardiness in this respect should be assessed unequivocally negatively. It must be acknowledged, however, that the Polish authorities were right to regulate electric personal mobility scooters in a way that takes into account a sufficiently broad scope of the subject matter, which will be important for the emergence of further devices of this type on the market, not necessarily corresponding to the definition of an “electric scooter”.

The subjective scope of the entitlement to drive electric scooters covers adults regardless of their possession of a driving licence. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Act of 5 January 2011 on driving vehicles, the document confirming the entitlement to drive an electric scooter is a bicycle card or a driving licence category AM, A1, B1 or T – in the case of persons under 18 years of age. This means that the Polish legislator did not foresee the requirement for adults to pass any exams in order to be able to legally use the discussed equipment. The legal situation is different in the case of minors, who – according to the provisions of the aforementioned article – must be duly authorised. Children under the age of 10 are not allowed to ride electric scooters on public roads on their own at all. Compared to our western neighbours, Polish regulations are quite liberal, although certainly ambiguous. For example, in Germany, electric scooters can only be ridden by persons 14 years of age or older, but the law does not stipulate the need to have the equivalent of a Polish bicycle card or driving licence [9]. In France the minimum age of a rider is 12 years, although there is currently legislative work on lowering this limit to 8 years, at the same time obliging a young rider to wear a protective helmet [10]. In Italy, there is a minimum driving age of 14 years, with a mandatory helmet requirement for any underage person driving an electric scooter [11], so in general it can be considered that, compared to other European countries, Italians have a fairly restrictive approach to the issue.

The Polish legislator has set a speed limit for electric scooters of a maximum of 20 km/h, with the proviso that the speed on the pavement should correspond to that of pedestrians. Given the technical capabilities of the devices in question, this has forced manufacturers to install special electronic controllers to limit the vehicles’ performance. Compared to other European countries, Polish regulations on the maximum speed of electric scooters are relatively restrictive, although a comparative analysis of legal systems leads to the conclusion that such an assessment requires reference to a specific factual situation. For example, Belgian law stats the allowed maximum speed of electric scooters at 25 km/h, but already on pavements the limit was only 6 km/h. In 2022, the Belgian authorities decided to tighten the regulations, thereby completely banning this type of vehicle on pavements. In Germany, the situation has been resolved similarly to Poland, with the means of transport in question not being allowed to travel faster than 20 km/h in public spaces. Relatively high speeds were until recently allowed by Spanish law. The central authorities there decided to leave local authorities autonomy in this respect, so that, for example in Madrid, scooters could be legally driven up to 30 km/h [12]. The situation changed after the high-profile fatal hit-and-run of a 78-year-old resident of Lerida, Spain, by a scooter driver [13]. The Spanish legislator then top-down set a maximum speed of 25 km/h, which still seems to be a rather liberal approach, at least compared to other EU Member States.

From the perspective of electric scooter users, important issues are the regulations concerning the space, on which these vehicles may move. The Polish legislator prescribes, where possible, that scooter drivers should ride on a cycle path. If there is no such road, it is allowed to ride on the street, with the proviso that the speed limit in a given place is up to 30 km/h. Only when both conditions are not met, i.e. when there is no cycle path and the law allows speeding on the carriageway above 30 km/h, then scooter drivers are obliged to ride on the pavement. However, it should be borne in mind that in such a case the person driving should always give way to those walking on the pavement and travel at a speed similar to that of pedestrians. This solution differs significantly from the regulations adopted by our western neighbour. In Germany, the use of electric scooters on pavements is completely banned [14], as is the case in France [15] or Belgium [16]. This approach seems to be characterised by considerable prudence and caution, especially in view of the increasing frequency of accidents involving pedestrians and personal transport vehicles.

An important issue to be addressed here is that of the necessity to register and insure scooters. In Poland, the law does not provide for such an obligation [17], although of course, from a common-sense perspective, it is recommended that the driver of such a vehicle should have at least third-party liability insurance, due to the frequent collision rate of scooters. The German legislator has classified electric scooters in the category of the so-called “Elektrokleinstfahrzeugen” (abbreviated to EKF), which is a class of personal transport equipment, the use of which requires a valid third-party liability insurance confirmed by a special certification sticker located on the frame of the device [18]. The French legislator decided on the same solution. In the Polish public debate there are more and more voices supporting the idea of introducing regulations similar to those in western countries, which would oblige scooter owners to purchase a third party insurance policy [19]. It is worth mentioning that the scope of liability of the driver of an electric scooter will increase if we consider this vehicle as a ‘mechanical means of communication moved by means of natural forces’, due to the content of Article 436 of the Civil Code and the application of the ‘risk principle’. In the doctrine of legal sciences, there is a prevailing view approving the aforementioned classification due to the danger to pedestrian traffic posed by unreasonable driving of such a vehicle [20].

In view of the above-mentioned differences between the legal systems of individual EU countries, it is worth considering whether such a wide divergence of regulations will not lead to negative consequences for EU citizens who, in the framework of the freedom of movement of persons, cross state borders using an electric scooter. This problem is particularly evident in border towns between which this type of local, cross-border movement of people is an everyday occurrence, for example between the German city of Frankfurt (Oder) and the Polish city of Słubice. There is a well-known case of a native entrepreneur who, due to his failure to comply with German regulations on the obligation to insure his scooter, was detained by German police after crossing the German-Polish border and held responsible in court [21]. It is therefore worth putting forward de lege ferenda proposals for the possible unification of regulations concerning the movement of electric scooters at the EU level. Such a solution should meet the conditions of full unification in order to properly protect EU citizens, although it should be borne in mind that there are discrepancies in terms of spatial order and accessibility to road infrastructure between individual EU member states, which should undoubtedly be taken into account when shaping future legal standards in this area.

Maciej Szmigiero, PhD in Law, attorney at law

cooperation: Aleksander Horyń, 4th year student at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw

[1] https://www.eea.europa.eu/pl/themes/urban/intro

[2] https://ptsp.pl/urbanizacja/

[3] Sources: CSO Poland, European Statistical Office – https://warszawa.stat.gov.pl/dane-o-wojewodztwie/wojewodztwo/ludnosc/

[4] https://um.warszawa.pl/-/uchodzcy-w-warszawie-raport-z-aktualnej-sytuacji

[5] https://www.sharingos.com/scooter-sharing-system

[6] https://www.sharingos.com/scooter-sharing-systemhttps://smartride.pl/polska-moze-byc-krajem-uto-badanie-stosunku-polakow-do-elektrycznej-mikromobilnosci/

[7] Traffic law. Dz.U.2022.988 t.j. of 2022.05.11

[8] Urban and regional transport 04/2021 – K. Mering, J. Wachnicka – Analysis of the use of electric scooters in cities in the context of road traffic safety on the example of Gdańsk

[9] https://polskiobserwator.de/przepisy-drogowe-w-niemczech/jazda-hulajnoga-elektryczna-w-niemczech-prawo-jazdy-kask-przepisy-mandaty/

[10] https://www.auto-swiat.pl/wiadomosci/aktualnosci/francja-zrobi-porzadek-z-hulajnogami-elektrycznymi-teraz-czas-na-polske/5vgxqg6

[11] https://moto.wp.pl/hulajnogi-elektryczne-za-granica-jak-wygladaja-przepisy-w-krajach-europy-6553936682965920a

[12] Urban and regional transport 04/2021 – K. Mering, J. Wachnicka – Analysis of the use of electric scooters in cities in the context of road traffic safety on the example of Gdańsk

[13] https://radio.opole.pl/104,485939,hiszpania-od-1-pazdziernika-jazda-na-hulajnodze-

[14] https://www.transport-publiczny.pl/wiadomosci/niemcy-zalegalizowali-hulajnogi-ale-zakazali-jezdzic-po-chodniku-61666.html

[15] https://www.money.pl/gospodarka/francja-wprowadza-zakaz-jezdzenia-elektrycznymi-hulajnogami-po-chodnikach-6377762848094337a.html

[16] https://www.niedziela.be/wiadomosci/belgia/ju%C5%BC-wkr%C3%B3tce-w-belgii-surowsze-zasady-u%C5%BCytkowania-elektrycznych-hulajn%C3%B3g

[17] https://mubi.pl/poradniki/ubezpieczenie-oc-hulajnogi-elektrycznej/

[18] https://polskiobserwator.de/przepisy-drogowe-w-niemczech/jazda-hulajnoga-elektryczna-w-niemczech-prawo-jazdy-kask-przepisy-mandaty/

[19] https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/E-hulajnogi-wcale-nie-takie-bezpieczne-Bedzie-obowiazkowe-OC-dla-wlascicieli-Te-kraje-juz-wprowadzily-taki-wymog-8430422.html

[20] L. Jantowski [in:] Civil Code. Commentary, ed. by M. Balwicka-Szczyrba, A. Sylwestrzak, Warsaw 2022, art. 436

[21] https://smartride.pl/polacy-bez-szans-na-legalne-uzywanie-swoich-e-hulajnog-w-niemczech-wszystko-rozbija-sie-o-ubezpieczenie-ktore-musi-miec-hulajnoga/

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