The issue of personal mobility devices (e-scooters) returns to the spotlight today (22/1) before the House Transport Committee. Specifically, the committee will examine the progress of the implementation of the law governing personal mobility devices, following a proposal submitted by AKEL MPs Giannakis Gavriel, Costas Costa, and Valentinos Fakontis.

At the same time, the committee will also consider the possible need to introduce special legislative provisions for the registration of personal mobility devices, aimed at reducing incidents of violations of the road traffic code. This proposal was submitted by the President of the Greens, Stavros Papadouris.

Meanwhile, the possibility of abolishing e-scooters by law is also back on the table, as growing non-compliance with the relevant legislation is causing increasing problems and raising safety concerns on the road network.

It is recalled that the former President of the Transport Committee and current Minister of Labour, Marinos Mousiouttas, had previously submitted a bill proposing the abolition of e-scooters. However, following his appointment as minister, the competent committee is no longer able to proceed with discussing the proposal.

Speaking to OffsiteNews, the current President of the Transport Committee, Alecos Tryfonidis, expressed his intention to resubmit the proposal today for discussion in the committee, with the aim of abolishing e-scooters, given that the existing legislation is not being enforced.

He described the situation as a “public danger”, both for e-scooter riders and for vehicle drivers, noting that he personally observes daily violations of the current legislation.

Mr Tryfonidis stated that his position is in favour of abolishing e-scooters, as enforcement by the competent authorities is minimal.

As he noted in closing, the issue will be discussed with the relevant authorities during today’s session of the Transport Committee, where all aspects will be examined, and all competent bodies are expected to present their assessments in order for decisions to be made on the next steps.

The existing legislation allows the use of e-scooters by individuals aged 14 and over, requires the installation of speed limiters, sets a maximum speed of 20 km/h, and obliges riders to wear helmets and reflective vests during nighttime hours.

Municipalities and communities are required to designate special parking areas for e-scooters, with a charge set at €1 per hour. If parking is not carried out in the designated areas, the charge may reach up to €10.

It is noted that in previous discussions of the Transport Committee, a proposal was submitted to install GPS systems on e-scooters for mapping purposes and for their automatic locking in cases of legislative violations.

Additionally, a proposal was made for the introduction of registration registries for e-scooters, so that in cases of illegal parking or any other breach of the legislation, the owner of the e-scooter can be immediately identified.

Finally, another proposal that had been put forward was the mandatory insurance coverage for all e-scooter riders in the event of their involvement in accidents or fatal incidents.