The police in L’Hospitalet already have a history of taking electric scooters seriously

Earlier this month, the Spanish Government adopted traffic rules for the soft mobility vehicles

Electric scooters have become an increasingly common sight in the urban landscape of many cities in Europe and beyond. They have also been dubbed soft mobility vehicles and many people probably still do not perceive them as a serious transportation option.

Yet their benefit for the environment and congestion is undeniable. Another aspect that also calls to attention that they should be treated with more seriousness, however, is that they have sometimes been a part of traffic incidents.

The municipal website of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (a satellite city of Barcelona) released today statistics that show that its police has been treating scooter riders like any other vehicle operator and with a good cause. On 2 January, the Spanish Government has promulgated a new set of regulations in force that seek to ensure the safe operation of scooters on the streets.

750 fines have been issued in the city to e-scooter riders

According to the report, the L’Hospitalet traffic police had organized concerted campaigns in dense and risky areas that sought to control how people operate the scooters. As a result, throughout 2020 some 750 fines had been issued for infractions, such as crossing on red lights, negligent driving, using headphones or phones, having more than one person on the scooter or zigzagging between vehicles and people.

The fines usually ranged between 80 and 200 euros but have also reached up to 1000 euros if caught riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or against the direction of traffic. The controls were necessitated also from the growing amount of complaints from residents about careless driving of the soft mobility vehicles.

The national regulations have now set specific rules about e-scooters for the whole country. They cannot be used on sidewalks and in pedestrian areas and cannot exceed a speed of 25 km/h.