In Vilnius, the use of electric scooters will be prohibited in the city center

The Vilnius Municipality presented stricter rules for the use of electric scooters in the Lithuanian capital, which will come into effect at the beginning of summer.

This was reported by Delfi.

The aim of these stricter rules is to improve pedestrian safety and reduce chaos on sidewalks caused by abandoned electric scooters.

Adomas Bužinskas, the head of the Vilnius Municipality administration, announced that starting from June 1st, the movement of scooters will be prohibited on three streets in the capital: Vilniaus, Saviciaus, and Pilies. Bicycle traffic will also be banned on these streets.

In the central part of the city and on bridges, the maximum speed for electric scooters will be reduced to 12 km/h. Additionally, designated parking areas for electric scooters will be installed, and only those areas can be used for scooter parking.

Rental electric scooters will be marked with numbers to help identify the rider in case of violations. Residents will be able to record the number of such scooters and inform the rental company about any violations.

To ensure compliance with the established rules, the municipality will conduct informational campaigns targeting not only users of rental scooters but also owners of their own scooters. Starting from June 1st, signs indicating the prohibition of scooter movement on specific streets will be placed.

Parking areas will be equipped throughout the summer, primarily in the Old Town.

In mid-May, the Lithuanian Seimas took the first step towards regulating the use of electric scooters on roads by approving amendments to the road safety law in the first reading.

It's worth noting that President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law in Ukraine recognizing scooters and monowheels as vehicles. The law categorizes light electric vehicles into two categories:

• Light personal electric vehicles: having one wheel, an electric motor with a power of up to 1000 W, and a maximum speed of up to 25 km/h. This category includes all rental scooters.
• Low-speed light electric vehicles: having two or more wheels and capable of traveling at speeds between 10 and 50 km/h.

Bogdan Lepyavko, the coordinator of the U-Cycle association, mentioned that this law took into account the recommendations developed by the cycling community. According to him, devices traveling at speeds higher than 50 km/h are not covered by these categories and are likely to be considered motorcycles.