E-scooter riders caught on Singapore footpaths may be jailed

Yahoo – AFP, November 4, 2019

The city-state is the latest country to introduce new regulations to cope with
a surge in the popularity of the contraptions (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore (AFP) - Electric scooter riders in Singapore were banned from footpaths Monday and could face jail if they break the rule, after a series of accidents linked to the trendy two-wheelers sparked anger.

The city-state is the latest country to introduce new regulations to cope with a surge in the popularity of the contraptions, which many pedestrians view as silent menaces.

Tech-savvy Singapore has embraced the e-scooter craze but accidents -- including fires blamed on charging devices and the death of an elderly cyclist in a September collision -- triggered calls for a ban.

E-scooters were already banned from Singapore's roads but the Land Transport Authority said the two-wheelers were now prohibited on all footpaths.

They can only be used on cycle paths and a network of routes connecting parks.

The city-state is the latest country to introduce new regulations to cope with 

a surge in the popularity of the contraptions (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Most riders caught on footpaths until the end of the year will be given warnings but a strict approach will be taken from January 1, with offenders facing a jail term of up to two months and a maximum fine of Sg$2,000 ($1,500).

"This move is a necessary one to ensure pedestrian safety as incidents involving errant e-scooter riders continue to rise in spite of our heightened enforcement and education efforts," the authority said in a statement.

Singapore had already introduced other rules, including a requirement to register devices and speed limits.

France last week issued a series of rules on the use of e-scooters, including setting maximum speed limits at 25 kilometres (15 miles) per hour for riders who must be at least 12 years old.

Riding on sidewalks will be prohibited unless a city permits them in certain areas, and at walking speed only.

Supporters say the devices can plug gaps in public transport networks by helping commuters cover the short stretch from home to the bus or subway station, and can reduce dependence on cars.

No cause found for fatal Stint crash, says public prosecutor

DutchNews, July 5, 2019

Two stints in action. Photo: Stintum.nl 

Dutch public prosecutors have said that the woman who was driving an electric Stint vehicle when it crashed into a train at Oss, killing four young children, apparently did everything she could to stop the vehicle. 

Menno Buntsma, a laywer who is representing the 33-year-old woman from Heesch, told Oproep Brabant that she was ‘relieved and emotional’ at the announcement. 

The OM prosecution service said in a news release that nine months after the fatal accident, it has not been able to find a specific cause. It said that witnesses confirmed that the driver ‘had done everything possible to stop the Stint in order to stop a collision.’ 

A technical investigation has found no clues about what went wrong and the NFI Dutch forensic institute is currently investigating the vehicle’s motor controller. 

Two children of four, one of six and another of eight died in the accident in September last year. An 11-year-old and the driver were seriously wounded. 

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen immediately banned the electric wagons – used by hundreds of daycare centres to ferry children around. New tough safety regulations agreed by MPs this year mean Stints will need technical upgrades and will then be allowed back on the roads in autumn, carrying eight children rather than 10. 

The OM says, however, that until the investigation is fully complete, it has made no decision about whether or not to pursue a prosecution.

Paris bans electric scooters parking on pavement

Yahoo – AFP, June 6, 2019

Around 20,000 electric scooters have appeared on the French capital's streets
since last year (AFP Photo/JOEL SAGET)

Paris (AFP) - Paris authorities announced Thursday a ban on parking electric scooters on the pavement, in a new crackdown on the fashionable two-wheeled contraptions as pedestrians complain of growing safety risks.

Scooters "must be left in parking spaces designated for cars and motorised two-wheel vehicles", the city's mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a press conference.

She also banned scooters from parks and gardens in a string of measures which will start coming into force from next month.

Apps such as Lime, Bolt, Wind and Flash -- whose scooters have invaded streets in recent months -- should also cut speed limits to 20 km/h (12 mph) around the capital, or 8 km/h (5 mph) in pedestrian areas, Hidalgo said.

Around 20,000 electric scooters have appeared on the French capital's streets since last year, causing tensions that have also been seen in cities worldwide from Madrid to Los Angeles.

Fans have embraced scooters as a quick and cheap way to get around, since the "dockless" devices are unlocked with a phone app and can be left anywhere when a ride is finished.

That is exactly the problem, critics say, pointing to scooters strewn across the city's stately squares or abandoned in piles littering narrow sidewalks, to the bane of people hauling groceries or pushing prams.

Paris has already introduced fines of 135 euros ($150) for riding electic scooters on the pavement.

They have also been used as makeshift weapons by protesters who have hurled them at police in the weekly "yellow vest" protests which erupted last November.

Stints will be allowed back on Dutch roads after technical upgrade

DutchNews, April 17, 2019

Two stints in action. Photo: Stintum.nl

MPs have approved changes to the law which will allow electric wagons known as ‘Stints’ back onto the Dutch roads in time for the next school year. 

The Stints, which were used by hundreds of daycare centres to ferry children around, have been banned since a fatal crash last year in which four children died. 

The new rules include tougher safety specifications and technical requirements and the company which makes the Stint has said it will upgrade all 3,000 vehicles. The wagons will also be allowed to carry 10 rather than eight children, after MPs urged transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen to rethink her plans for fewer seats. 

Last September a wagon ploughed into a train at a level crossing after the brake apparently failed, killing four children. However, the cause of the accident has not yet been determined. 

Last December, research institute TNO said the wagons can only be allowed back into traffic after modifications have been carried out. In particular, there are problems with the braking system, the report said. 

Stints made their debuts on the Dutch roads in 2011 via legislation covering ‘special scooters’ – a new category of road transport introduced to cover Segways. 

MPs and ministers were keen to encourage new forms of transport and did not introduce extra safety measures so as not to dent innovation.

Electric wagons are unsafe, road ban remains in force

DutchNews, December 13, 2018

Two Stints in action. Photo: Stintum.nl

The electric wagons known as Stints which hundreds of daycare centres use to ferry children around are not safe enough to be on the public roads, the TNO research institute says in a new report. 

The institute was commissioned to look into stint safety by transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen following September’s fatal crash in which a wagon ploughed into a train, killing four children. 

Van Nieuwenhuizen immediately banned the wagons from the roads. 

The TNO report says the wagons can only be allowed back into traffic after modifications have been carried out. In particular, there are problems with the braking system, the report said. 

The minister told a news conference on Thursday she realises that the ban has caused problems for users but that ‘safety has priority’. She will hold talks with the child care sector about the difficulties they now face next week. 

2011 

Stints made their debuts on the Dutch roads in 2011 via legislation covering ‘special scooters’ – a new category of road transport introduced to cover Segways. MPs and ministers were keen to encourage new forms of transport and did not introduce extra safety measures so as not to dent innovation. 

Two road safety organisations checked the electric wagons in 2011 and both said they had doubts about their safety, broadcaster NOS said on Thursday afternoon. Nevertheless, both ministers and parliament decided to set their objections aside and press ahead with the introduction. 

MPs have described Thursday’s findings as shocking. ‘Public safety is paramount but that seems not to have been the case over the past few years,’ Socialist MP Cem Lacin told NOS. ‘An unsafe vehicle has bee used on the roads for years.’ 

Some 3,500 wagons are thought to have been in use prior to the ban. As well as daycare centres, they were used by several delivery companies, including PostNL.

Mobility scooters need urgent improvements, say road safety researchers

DutchNews, November 21, 2018

Senior woman at the seaside on mobility scooter

Mobility scooters used by thousands of elderly and immobile people in the Netherlands are not safe enough and need urgent action to meet tougher standards, according to road safety researchers. 

Dozens of people are killed every year in accidents involving mobility scooters. In total 38 mobility scooter users were killed in 2016 and 1,600 were taken to hospital after accidents. 

The road safety scientific research foundation (SWOV) has now researched 35 serious accidents involving the electric scooters.  It found that users who find themselves in dangerous situations tend to put pressure on the accelerator rather than let it go when they need to brake. 

The technology is similar to that used by the electric wagons used to transport children, known as the Stint. Stints have been banned from the Dutch roads pending safety checks after a fatal accident at a level crossing. 

The braking system is not the only problem with the scooters, the SWOV says. The scooters are not stable enough and are liable to tip on uneven roads or when they hit an obstacle.

It also recommends bike lanes are made wider, and without raised edges, to lessen the risk of accidents. 

Safe

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said in a reaction to the report that all mobility scooter users should be able to trust that their vehicles are safe. 

She said she is now in talks with manufacturers about the SWOV recommendations. 

Television consumers show Kassa reported last month that one reason so many mobility scooter users are killed may be due to the braking system.

Related Article:

Court upholds electric wagon road ban, says safety must come first

Two Stints in action. Photo: Stintum.nl

Court upholds electric wagon road ban, says safety must come first

DutchNews, November 1, 2018

Two Stints in action. Photo: Stintum.nl

Judges in Utrecht have upheld the transport minister’s decision to ban the electric wagons known as Stints from the Dutch roads. 

The minister imposed the ban shortly after last month’s fatal accident in which four children died when a wagon ploughed into a train. It is thought that the brakes had failed. 

Thursday’s court case was brought by a daycare centre which claims the minister had not taken users of the Stint sufficiently into account in reaching her decision. Hundreds of daycare centres in the Netherlands have been forced to find alternative ways of moving children from place to place because of the ban. 

‘The claim that the minister acted in a panic is not correct,’ the court said. ‘The minister has explained that the decision was taken on the grounds of traffic safety and that this had priority over all other interests.’ 

Stint Urban Mobility, which makes the electric carts, has since gone bankrupt. 

The formal investigation into the vehicle safety is due at the end of the year.