Paris orders e-scooter riders to wear helmets and vests or face fines
Paris police have introduced new safety rules for e-scooter riders following a sharp rise in fatal accidents in the city. Helmets and high-visibility vests are now mandatory, with fines for non-compliance.
Police in Paris have announced new safety requirements for electric scooter riders as they attempt to reduce the growing number of accidents in the French capital. Last year, 79 people died in e-scooter accidents, a sharp increase from 45 deaths the previous year, according to figures cited by police from France's road safety watchdog.
To address what officials describe as a concerning rise in serious and fatal accidents involving motorised personal transport devices, riders are now required to wear a helmet and a high-visibility vest on public roads. Failing to wear an approved helmet carries a fine of €135, while not wearing a vest or reflective elements brings a smaller fine of €35. The new rules also apply to other electric devices such as unicycles and hoverboards.
Official figures show around 1,100 people were injured in e-scooter accidents in Paris last year, up 33% on the previous year. This comes despite Paris banning rental e-scooters back in 2023 over safety concerns, while privately owned scooters remain legal to ride.
E-scooters continue to be popular among commuters in the city, where narrow streets often become congested. France has the highest rate of private e-scooter ownership in Europe, according to EU figures, with around 2.5 million owners recorded as of 2023 and hundreds of thousands more purchased since. Many of these scooters are believed to be in the capital, though exact numbers are not tracked.
Existing rules in Paris already ban riders under 14, prohibit carrying passengers, and cap speeds at 25km/h. Helmets and high-visibility vests were already compulsory in several French regions, including Seine-et-Marne, Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse.
Paris was among the first cities to embrace e-scooters, but concerns over reckless riding and pavements being blocked led to a ban on rental scooters, decided by a citywide referendum in which 90% of voters supported the ban, although turnout was only 8%. Other European cities have followed a similar path, with Madrid banning rental e-scooters in 2024 and Brussels set to do the same in June.
