People in Paris have voted “overwhelmingly” to ban rental electric scooters from the French capital’s streets in a poll which officials have said they will implement.
The result is being hailed as a victory for road safety campaigners and comes after a rising number of injuries and fatalities among users of e-scooters.
Three deaths and 459 injuries were attributed to e-scooters in Paris last year, compared to one fatality and 353 injuries in 2021.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the result of the non-binding referendum “becomes our roadmap” and promised to bring in the ban.
Nearly 90% of the more than 103,000 people who voted supported a ban on e-scooters. Around 1.38 million people were eligible to take part in the poll. The vote took place on the same day as the Paris marathon.
“The Parisians who spoke overwhelmingly spoke out against self-service scooters,” Ms Hidalgo said.
“Their very clear message now becomes our roadmap. With my team, we will follow through on their decision as I promised.”
The self-service electric scooters accessed through smartphone apps have operated in Paris since 2018.
As complaints increased over the way the scooters were being deployed, officials cut the number of operators to three in 2020.
The city’s 15,000-strong fleet of rental e-scooters are provided by Tier, Lime and Dott.
Operators were given a three-year contract and were required to cap the speed of scooters to 20kmph (12.4mph).
Designated scooter parking areas were also imposed as part of the contracts, which will run until September.
Operators had fought against the ban by offering further regulations, including checking users were over 18 and fixing licence plates to scooters so police could identify traffic offenders.
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Some Parisians said they preferred tighter regulations over an outright ban.
Social media influencers argued electric scooters provide a safer way of travelling home late at night in the absence of a night service on the Paris metro.
Others spoke out in support of the ban, claiming the scooters were making Paris “a mess” with “the danger” and “visual pollution” they brought to the city’s streets.
