Minimum age at 14 or 16, identification number, turn signals, reinforced controls but no helmet obligation: the Minister of Transport unveiled Sunday in the JDD his national plan to regulate the use of
electric
scooters, at one month of the referendum in Paris on their ban.
By presenting this plan, Clément Beaune firmly takes the opposite view of the vote organized on April 2 by the Mayor of Paris.
"
Anne Hidalgo
wants to ban scooters without assuming it, so she is organizing a referendum without a campaign and without contradictory opinions being able to express themselves
", lambasted the minister in Le Journal du Dimanche, seeing it as "
an admission of failure and of weakness
”.
Strengthened national framework
“
I will go and vote as a citizen and as an elected representative of Paris.
You understood in what sense…
”, he added.
Conversely, Clément Beaune intends to remain "
in the spirit of the law on mobility of 2019, which left a maximum of regulation to the cities
", while proposing to help them with a "
reinforced national framework
".
Concretely, he wants the minimum age – 12 years old currently – to be raised to “
at least 14 or 16 years old
”, with the generalization of verification devices.
"
It is imperative to avoid tragedies involving young teenagers
," he said.
Read alsoThe tortuous road of the Parisian scooter
"
Then, all self-service scooters need a visible identification number: this will facilitate and strengthen checks
", detailed Clément Beaune, also advocating the obligation of turn signals.
"
To put an end to the piles of abandoned scooters, most communities have set up compulsory parking spaces: operators must imperatively generalize the double stand and increase patrols", declared the Minister
.
“The laxity has lasted too long”
Citing the example of Lyon, Clément Beaune finally pleaded for the ecological requirement of a "
longer battery life and a recycling obligation in France
".
"
The State will put the sword in the loins of the operators, because the laxity has now lasted too long
", explained the minister.
On the other hand, he does not retain the obligation of the helmet: "
because for an obligation to be effective, it must be able to be controlled and this would concern an immense number of cases
".
"
If you do it for the scooter, consistency requires that you do it for the bike
", further argued the minister, who does not want to discourage the expansion of the number of users of these alternatives to the car.
Clément Beaune also says he is ready to "
toughen up the fines
" against those who drive two (currently 35 euros).
"
It's forbidden and it's the cause of one in five serious accidents
," he said.