Legislators reacted to a deadly accident with an electric bike in Moscow

A fatal accident in Moscow caused by a courier driving an electric bicycle provoked a new wave of initiatives to tighten the rules for using personal mobility aids (SIMs). State Duma Deputy Vitaly Yefimov called for the introduction of compulsory education, rights and SIM numbers, and Senator Alexander Bashkin proposed limiting travel in powerful electric vehicles.

The Moscow prosecutor’s office on Tuesday announced the detention of a 22-year-old courier who, a few days earlier, while driving an electric bicycle, knocked down a woman on the tram tracks on Nizhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street and fled the scene of an accident. The victim later died in hospital from her injuries.

This is not the first such incident in Russia. Nevertheless, the accident provoked a wave of statements from legislators who proposed to tighten the rules for users of personal mobility aids. Member of the State Duma Committee on Transport Vitaly Efimov said “RIA News”, that in order to prevent such emergencies, it is necessary to write down in the rules where couriers have the right to drive – on sidewalks or on the roadway. Note that the current traffic rules do not restrict users. “If on public roads, then they should have some kind of license with them in order to know where they can turn right, left and how the traffic light works,” continued Mr. Yefimov. In his opinion, individual electric transport should have a state number so that violations can be recorded.

Senator Alexander Bashkin, in turn, called for using the experience of countries where heavy SIMs (weight over 25–35 kg) owned by individuals and not controlled by kicksharing operators are prohibited from being used in “public space”.

Senator Artem Sheikin previously spoke about plans to submit to the State Duma a bill on a fine of up to 5,000 rubles. for SIM owners who violate the speed limit (today there is no separate sanction for this in the Code of Administrative Offenses). Electric scooters need “means of identification,” Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Federation Council, also admitted: “This is not so that there is some kind of formalism, but still, if a citizen is run over, there must be identification so that there is a number and you can always it was to bring to justice the one who grossly violated the traffic rules and inflicted injuries on someone. Irina Rukavishnikova, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, also spoke about the need to register SIMs and take “restrictive measures in large cities.” It is necessary to register electric scooters that reach speeds of more than 6 km / h, suggested the head of the Duma Committee on Transport and Development of Transport Infrastructure Evgeny Moskvichev. The Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, in turn, insists on a complete ban on the movement of SIMs on the sidewalks.

Recall, from March 1, new traffic rules came into force, which for the first time introduced regulation for SIM: the maximum permitted speed is 25 km / h; a ban on leaving the roadway if the age of the rider is less than 14 years; road signs prohibiting riding in certain zones and areas, and so on. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the first quarter of 2023, there were 495 accidents involving SIM, a 60% increase compared to the same period last year. The Ministry of Transport has already announced that it is preparing a new batch of measures (see “Kommersant” dated July 20): limiting the speed of overtaking pedestrians, tightening penalties for violators and mandatory registration of all used SIM in a special electronic registry, similar to the traffic police database.

Ivan Buranov