ISTANBUL: The COVID-19 pandemic has breathed new life in electric scooters worldwide, but multiplying injuries and traffic accidents in Turkey caused by daredevil users have pushed the government to set up strict regulations.
Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has recently announced new legal arrangements for scooters in traffic, which will be put into effect from the beginning of 2021.
According to the new measures, the maximum speed will be 18 km per hour. Users over the age of 18 can ride scooters without a permit, but those between 16 and 18 will be asked to have motorbike licenses while teenagers under 16 will not be allowed at all.
The issue of rentable scooters and micro-mobility solutions in urban areas has significantly gained media attention in major Turkish cities after an 18-year-old high school student using an electric scooter died in a traffic accident on an Istanbul highway in February.
The two-wheeled vehicles have been widely used lately, especially for short distances, amid the coronavirus outbreak, mostly by young people.
From now on, scooters will not be permitted on pedestrian roads and pavements. There will be special scooter parks as the riders will not be allowed to leave their scooters on any sidewalks.
Scooters will also be prohibited on roads where the speed limits are higher than 50 km.
“Our main goal is to establish globally competitive smart transport systems. For this, we have to specify the obligations for scooter riding,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaosmanoglu told reporters in the capital Ankara.
“Over 3 million residents ride scooters in Turkey, with 35,000 active scooters at the moment. Due to the pandemic, the demand for alternative transportation and their presence in traffic has increased rapidly,” he noted.–Agencies
