Paris residents vote in favor of banning rental e-scooters

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – Paris residents have voted for the prohibition of self-service electric scooters in the French capital, the mayor announced.

On Sunday, a referendum has been held whether to ban the rental e-scooters which triggered a public row in the past months.

Anne Hidalgo in a news conference said: "As of Sept. 1, there will be no more scooters in Paris."

Paris municipality in a statement noted that 103,084 voters participated to the referendum, and 89% of them voted in favor of a ban.

The participation rate to the public consultation was very low as 1,382,322 electors were registered on the electoral lists – so only 7.45% of them expressed their opinion.

The use of electric scooters in France stirred controversy due to accidents, sidewalks being crowded by randomly parked vehicles, and drivers not following traffic rules.

In 2022, police recorded 337 accidents in Paris, including a lethal one, according to the local broadcaster Franceinfo.

Lime, Dott, and Tier are companies operating in Paris, with a total of 15,000 to 22,000 electric scooters, broadcaster BFMTV said.