Paris has tightened safety measures for electric scooter users through traffic regulations, speed limits, and enforcement. Riders are now also required to wear helmets and high-visibility vests while riding their scooters on public roads.
Without an approved helmet, they risk a 135-euro fine; not wearing a reflective jacket can result in a 35-euro penalty.
The tightening of the rules comes after a series of serious accidents involving e-scooters. According to France’s road safety watchdog, 79 people were killed in e-scooter crashes last year, up from 45 fatalities the year before. Around 1,100 people were injured in Paris alone, representing a 33% increase year-over-year.
Paris already focused on reducing speed, keeping e-scooters off pavements, improving safety equipment, regulating parking, and increasing police enforcement. Now, on top of that, there are the helmets and the jackets.
‘Band-aid to the problem’?
One small reservation, though: Wearing a helmet makes perfect sense: it protects riders against head injuries. But the mandatory high-visibility vest is only a band-aid to the problem of cars killing people. It essentially implies that the problem isn’t the e-scooters themselves, but car traffic in the city.
E-scooters are generally limited to 25 km/h, and they are not allowed on the sidewalks. They must have front and rear lights, reflectors, a braking system, and a horn or bell. The current Paris rules state that riders must be at least 14 years old to ride on public roads.
Exception for e-bikes
All requirements also apply to other categories of motorized personal transportation devices, including electric unicycles and hoverboards. One notable exception, however, appears to be electric bicycles.
French law distinguishes between pedal-assist e-bikes and “motorized personal mobility devices.” That means the new mandatory helmet and high-visibility requirements do not appear to extend to standard 25 km/h pedal-assist e-bikes.
Ban on rental e-scooters
Earlier, Paris had already taken an aggressive stance toward e-scooters in recent years, banning shared rental scooters in 2023, after a public referendum, while still allowing privately owned scooters to operate.
The latter remain hugely popular in France. The country has the highest rate of private e-scooter ownership in Europe, with around 2.5 million privately owned scooters recorded in 2023 and hundreds of thousands more believed to have been sold since.
