In the first six months of 2022 a total of 116 people were injured in road traffic accidents involving electric scooters, as reported by Latvian Ministry of Transport.
This year as well the number of electric scooters and cyclists on roads will increase once the next school year starts. At the same time, the number of road traffic accidents involving electric scooters is on a rise.
According to data from Latvian State Police (VP), while in 2020 the number of traffic accidents involving electric scooters with injuries was 70, in 2021 their number went up to 195.
116 people have already been injured in such accidents this year so far. This is twice as many when compared to the first half of 2021.
According to a study by experts of Riga Technical University (RTU) in 2021, electric can be rather dangerous methods of transportation in certain situations. Accidents involving electric scooters cause a high risk of injuries for their drivers and other road traffic participants.
It is for this reason people driving electric scooters should always wear a helmet.
According to Ministry of Transport’s Public Transport Services Department director Annija Novikova, it is prohibited to transport passengers and cargo on an electric scooter. Like other vehicles and forms of transport – it is prohibited to drive an electric scooter while drunk or under influence of narcotic or psychotropic substances.
«Electric scooters are intended to be used by a single person – the decision to take another person on board increases the already high risk of injury, typical for this form of transportation,» stresses Novikova.
«This is especially true for cases when parents carry their children around on an electric scooter.»
Novikova reports that electric scooters can be used on cycling lanes and pedestrian walkways, but pedestrians should have right of way.
Electric scooters and bicycles can be driven on the road.
Both cyclists and electric scooter enthusiasts under the age of 17 years require a license.