Helsinki sees the strengthening of current e-scooter restrictions

The aim is to decrease accidents caused by drunk driving and high speeds

Earlier this year, the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications held a discussion with several e-scooter operators, local authorities, and representatives of the Finnish Road Safety Council. During this meeting, it discussed ways to reduce accidents and increase the safety of e-scooter drivers.

As a result of the July discussion, the government introduce speed limits in the capital's city centre on weekend nights. Despite this, hospitals still recorded numerous accidents caused by drunk driving and high speeds during the summer season.

What are the new restrictions?

On 31 August, the Ministry held a follow-up discussion to the July meeting with the aim of addressing how they can further extend the agreed-upon measures. Now, the e-scooter operators Voi, TIER, and Lime have expressed their willingness to strengthen the existing measures and extend the set limits to include weekday nights.

More specifically, the light electric vehicles will now operate at a maximum speed of 15 km/h every night of the week from 00:00 to 05:00. In addition to this, the extended measures will apply to all areas of Helsinki, not just the city centre.  

Beyond these measures, the e-scooter operators have said that they are also willing to reduce the speeds of the vehicles as a whole, setting the new limit at 20 km/h instead of 25 km/h. Moreover, they are further planning to make changes to the locations in which e-scooters can be found. In particular, they seek to move e-scooters away from busy bar districts in order to reduce night-time drunk driving.

Commenting on the joint effort to increase road safety, Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka stated: “I welcome the shared commitment of the operators to improve safety, and we also discussed improving infrastructure and parking facilities. Together with the scooter operators and the City of Helsinki, we agreed to look into the possibility to make the scooters temporarily unavailable during weekend nights in the coming autumn season.”

Ultimately, the government seeks to decrease accidents stemming from drunk driving and high speeds. By introducing – and subsequently, improving – measures, the Ministry of Transport and Communications proves its dedication to ensuring the safety of citizens.