Senator Dominique Estrosi-Sassone and other senators have just filed a bill with the upper house of Parliament. It aims to impose the registration of “all motorized land vehicles” whose speed reaches 15 km/h. Unsurprisingly, electric scooters are the main targets of this measure.
As you may know, the electric scooter market is booming in France. It’s simple, France will have no less than one million electric scooters in circulation during 2022 if we are to believe the latest study by the Statista site.
However, many municipalities have already taken measures to regulate their use, in particular in order to avoid possible deviations. This is the case of the city of Paris, which has limited the speed of electric scooters to 10 km/h in all the streets of the capital since November 2021. The town hall of Dijon has also taken similar measures by limiting the speed of electric scooters at only 8 km/h.
A law to impose the registration of electric scooters
However, we have just learned that Senator LR Dominique Estrosi-Sassone has just submit a bill, she and several other senators to the Upper House of Parliament. The text of the law is rather explicit and wishes to impose “registration for all motorized land vehicles whose speed reaches 15 km/h by engine power alone”.
As you will have understood, this measure mainly aims electric scooters that can reach or exceed 25 km/h via electric assistance. Unsurprisingly, the primary motivation of this law is to better regulate the use of these vehicles and especially to facilitate the identification of the driver in the event of an accident notably “in the context of a hit-and-run preventing a possible filing of a complaint or a claim for compensation from the insurer”.
The parliamentarians take the opportunity to recall that no less than “870 personal accidents and 22 deaths involving electric scooters were recorded in France in 2021″. A heavy tollwhich obviously motivated these senators to take action.
Also read: Electric scooters – fewer women are using them, here’s why
Fines of up to €3,750 and community service
According to our colleagues on the site Next Impacta lack of registration noted by the police will be worth to the user a 4th class fine of up to 750 euros. In the event of a recurrence noted within the following two months, the ceiling will increase to 1500 €. And if a 3rd verbalization occurs within six months, the amount of the fine will reach the 3750 euros and the perpetrator of the offense may also incur an additional penalty of community service.
From now on, the text will have to undertake what is called thea parliamentary shuttle. In other words, the bill will first be examined by the competent parliamentary standing committee and a rapporteur for the text will be appointed. It will then be voted on for the first time in the Senate, before passing into the hands of the deputies of the National Assembly. In the event of amendments, the text will then shuttle between the National Assembly and the Senate.
The measure will be adopted only if it is voted in the same terms by the two assemblies, before being promulgated by the President of the Republic in the following fortnight. If all goes well, this text could come into force on January 1, 2023.
