In Brussels, the debate is once again in full swing over the ban on e-scooter-sharing services that the Brussels Region plans to introduce in 2027. It’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that the various government bodies themselves have made quite a mess of things themselves, as the logic behind the regulations is sometimes difficult to fathom.
Now, Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) is also calling for stricter rules for private e-scooters, just as the barely enforced helmet requirement for users of e-scooters traveling faster than 20 km/h has been introduced.
Her call comes as mobility expert Dirk Lauwers is advocating for continued permission of shared e-scooter in Brussels while banning private e-scooters.
Flawed arguments
In an opinion piece in BRUZZ, Lauwers makes a case for allowing shared e-scooters in Brussels at least until 2028. He does so for several reasons. For instance, Lauwers says there are many questions to be raised about the Brussels government’s rationale for imposing a ban – namely, the rising number of accidents involving e-scooters.
According to him, the trend has been on the decline since 2021, although there was another spike in 2025. However, the latest available figures show a 40% decrease in the number of e-scooter accidents in Brussels compared to that 2025 peak.
Furthermore, those figures do not distinguish between shared and private e-scooters. In the city of Antwerp, however, that distinction was made. And what did they find? For every accident involving a shared e-scooter, there are 5 accidents involving private e-scooters.
Precisely because private e-scooters are often souped up—and, unlike the heavily regulated shared e-scooters, are not automatically limited in speed—he advocated for a ban on private e-scooters, yet another very strict measure, especially when compared to other vehicles.
More accidents with private e-scooters
In cities where a ban on shared e-scooters was implemented, sales of private e-scooters increased, and that has yet another consequence. For example, in Paris in 2025, following the ban on shared e-scooters, the number of e-scooter accidents rose by 33% to over 1,000 accidents.
In London, where there is no ban on shared e-scooters but one on privately owned e-scooters, only one in every 250,000 shared e-scooter rides results in a serious accident, and that risk is showing a clear downward trend.
Lauwers also points out the impact on mobility: for many Brussels residents, commuters, and visitors to the city, the introduction of a ban on shared e-scooters will eliminate the option of traveling to a specific destination – just look at the number of shared e-scooters you’ll find around business parks located on the outskirts of the city.
Federal matters
In a reaction, Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt acknowledges the issues surrounding private e-scooters but points out that “regulating private e-scooters is the responsibility of the federal government, not the region.”
According to Van den Brandt, “we need to be much stricter with these private e-scooters. People often use them, but we also see that the risk of an accident resulting in serious injury is 10 times higher on an e-scooter than on a bicycle. That’s purely due to the catapult effect.”
Although, for the sake of completeness, we should also mention that the comparison between motorcycles and cars has long been a well-known example of how we tolerate a mode of transportation with a much higher risk of injury without banning it, despite the fact that the sale of motorcycles is, of course, already heavily regulated.
License plate
Another argument put forward in Brussels in favor of banning shared e-scooters is that they are also used in drug trafficking, although this is, of course, also true of privately owned e-scooters – precisely because there is no registration requirement or identity check, they are actually more likely to be used for such purposes.
Brussels Minister-President Boris Dilliès (MR) previously proposed mandatory license plates for these e-scooters. “We need to treat the remaining e-scooters in the traffic codes as mopeds,” says Van den Brandt.
“That means, on a moped, you’re required to wear a helmet and have a license plate. This is a request from the Brussels police. If the people who fight crime every day ask us for help, we need to listen. It would be a good idea to focus on this. But this, too, falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government.”
“Not a proportionate measure”
Touring states that it “understands the minister’s concerns,” but according to the mobility organization a blanket ban on private e-scooters is not a proportionate measure. “The problem lies primarily with non-compliant, modified, or excessively fast vehicles. These need to be monitored more strictly, and sellers and importers who bring such vehicles to market must also take responsibility.”
For Touring, it is therefore “more logical to better enforce the existing rules” and remove dangerous vehicles from the roads than to “ban an entire mode of transportation,” even though Van den Brandt herself never used the word “ban.”
Micromobility also encourages the use of taxis
Meanwhile, shared e-scooter providers continue to fight tooth and nail against the ban on shared e-scooter, which is to set to take effect in 2027 in Brussels. For example, Bolt released a statement today claiming that the growth of micromobility also boosts taxi usage.
Five years of Bolt data from Belgium show that, as micromobility services in cities become more established, an increasing proportion of shared scooter and e-bike users are also starting to use ride-hailing services. In August 2026, that share rose to 44%, the highest level ever. “The two services do not compete for the same trips, but rather contribute to the same mobility habit,” says Bolt.
