After many people in the city have complained about the reckless behavior of a substantial number of rental e-scooter riders, Vienna City Council has finally acted by implementing new e-scooter rules in Vienna.
Starting May 1st, 2023, much stricter rules on rental e-scooters will be implemented, including the introduction of prohibited zones and a restriction on the number of rental e-scooters in Vienna allowed to be rented out.
The new rules will largely impact Vienna’s rental e-scooter operators but will also impact the people who rent them.
The new e-scooter rules in Vienna include:
- Parking vehicles on sidewalks will be prohibited.
- More than 200 new fixed parking spaces around Vienna will be only places where e-scooters are allowed to be parked. Many will be close to public transportation hubs.
- A total of 500 rental e-scooters will be allowed in the Inner City area of Vienna, with an additional 1,500 allowed in the 2nd to 9th districts of the city.
- Rental e-scooters must be equipped with turn signals.
- Prohibited zones will be set up around Vienna. From May 1st, e-scooters will be banned from being ridden in all these zones.
- E-scooters will no longer be allowed to operate in areas close to hospitals, markets and other high trafficked areas where accidents can occur. Zones will be easily monitored as, if the e-scooter rider attempts to ride within these areas, the scooter’s power will simply cut out.
- E-scooters must be set up to automatically lower allowed speed in residential areas, pedestrian zones and other to-be designated areas.
The same rules will not apply to kick scooters, as they are “human-powered” and so are classified as a toys. That also means they are not allowed on roads, so must be ridden on sidewalks as long as basic safety is adhered to.
Considering I was at Yppenplatz Market on Saturday afternoon in a very crowded area (see above photo) and two idiots on e-scooters drove through that crowd at an unsafe speed almost knocking over an elderly man in the process, for me the new e-scooter laws in Vienna cannot come in fast enough.
It appears most people in Vienna agree with me as, in a survey last year, 86 percent of people living in the Austrian city wanted e-scooters to be better regulated, with 91 percent wanting the parking of e-scooters to have stricter rules.
So yes, it would seem most of us are thrilled with the new e-scooter rules in Vienna.
RELATED: E-scooter riders in Vienna should be better regulated before someone is killed
Meanwhile, just in case you are not aware of how dangerous riding an e-scooter in a major city can be if you do not follow the rules, watch the video of an accident between an e-scooter and a car in Tallin, Estonia after the rider completely ignored traffic lights.
And the video below that of two men riding an e-scooter in Sweden while drunk. It didn’t end up well for either of them.