Phase 3, in Italy boom of scooters in the city. The rules for using them - Lifestyle

The latest arrivals are the thousand of the 'Dott', a European company that launched its sharing fleet from the Spanish Steps in Rome together with the mayor Virginia Raggi: the electric, silent and ecological scooters are the new phenomenon that is conquering Italian cities at this beginning of Phase 3 and could represent the key to accelerate the entire process of revising urban mobility, as has already happened and is taking place in several countries, starting from those of northern Europe.
    Fears about scooters and their increasingly massive spread - but also all the other electric vehicles for individual mobility such as hoverboards, segways, monowheels and, of course, bicycles - are above all the fears related to the use of public transport during the pandemic: thousands of citizens who have to travel a few kilometers to go to work, but also many young people, prefer to avoid using them and choose the new means available. But what are the rules for using electric scooters? The matter, explains the director of the Traffic Police Giandomenico Protospataro, who has a broad analysis on this type of transport on Poliziamoderna, was first regulated in 2019 with the start of the experimentation and subsequently, at the beginning this year the scooters have been equated to bicycles, although with specific limits for urban use.
    And therefore, as long as they have specific construction and functional characteristics, they can circulate on the roadway if there are no cycle paths available. On the other hand, they cannot circulate on extra-urban roads or on urban roads with a speed limit higher than 50 km / h where the movement of velocipedes is prohibited, nor, of course, on sidewalks or in spaces reserved for pedestrians. The structural conformation of this type of devices, explains Protospataro again, has imposed ad hoc rules, although being legally equivalent to bicycles (and, therefore, the rules of use are those provided for in articles 68 and 182 of the code della Strada): use of a helmet for underage drivers, a speed limit of 25 km / h, a ban on the transport of things or passengers, no driving license as long as you are 14 years old.
    Be careful though, the Polstrada executive concludes: "the scooter must not have a seat or in any case a seat with a height above the ground greater than 54 cm. If it had, it should be considered as an electric moped for which the CDS imposes rules very different (type approval, registration, license plate, driving license, insurance, approved helmet) Driving with a vehicle of this type can cost very dearly, because heavy administrative fines and seizure for the confiscation of the vehicle apply ". (HANDLE).