Helsinki Police Department’s instructions for the safe use of electric scooters
Monitoring the use of electric scooters will be one of the Helsinki Police Department’s key themes in traffic surveillance this summer. The police will intensely monitor the use of electric scooters based on traffic control requests.
The City of Helsinki and operators of scooter-sharing services have agreed upon measures to reduce harm caused by electric scooters. New parking areas for electric scooters will be the most visible change. The limitations on use set by operators last autumn continue to be in effect at present. No electric scooters can be used between 12 midnight and 5 am during weekends. The speed limit is 20 km/h during the day and 15 km/h on weekdays between 12 midnight and 5 am.
“We are satisfied with these measures taken by the City of Helsinki and the operators to improve safety. The intensified monitoring of electric scooters is one of the Helsinki Police Department’s key themes in traffic surveillance this summer. The police will specifically target its monitoring activities based on traffic control requests made by people living in Helsinki,” says Superintendent Dennis Pasterstein, head of traffic surveillance at the Helsinki Police Department.
From now on, the police will issue traffic penalty fees instead of warnings.
Instructions for the safe use of electric scooters in traffic
An electric scooter is a light electric vehicle to which the same rules of the road apply as to bicycles. The speed of an electric scooter must be appropriate considering traffic safety. In every situation, the speed must be appropriate and safe for the user of an electric scooter and other road users.
Electric scooters must be used on paths and lanes intended for bicycles, not on footpaths. If there is no separate bicycle path or lane, electric scooters must be used on the right-hand side of the road.
Because the rules of the road set for bicycles apply to electric scooters, the user of an electric scooter should also wear a helmet as defined in the Road Traffic Act. Electric scooters cannot be used to carry any passengers.
The speed of an electric scooter must be appropriate considering traffic safety. In every situation, the speed must be appropriate and safe for the user of an electric scooter and other road users. The speed must be set so that the user can maintain control of the vehicle. The user must be able to stop the vehicle in the visible part of the path and in all expected situations.
Electric scooters can also be stopped or parked on a footpath or bicycle path, similarly to bicycles, but so that this does not cause any harm to other road users.
According to the Road Traffic Act, the state of intoxication or tiredness cannot reduce the safe use of an electric scooter. Non-motor powered traffic intoxication takes place if an intoxicated user hits another road user when using an electric scooter.
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