What issues e-scooters cause in EU cities and how authorities are trying to solve them
The widespread introduction of e-scooters is causing major problems, especially in its early stages, the main ones being where they are parked, the speed they are ridden at, and inappropriate user behaviour, especially towards pedestrians.
Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig said back in September 2019: "I find it wholly unacceptable that they’re just being left all over the place, also posing a safety hazard."
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas was also furious: "We are not against micro-mobility. But you can see what’s happening with scooters being left in cul-de-sacs, on wheelchair ramps, on steep streets, on pavements and on traffic islands. It's chaos."
Read more about how Europe is attempting to tackle this challenge, read the article by the PULSE initiative: Scooters beyond the rules: how the EU is trying to regulate two-wheeled electric transport.
The use of e-scooters is still not regulated in all major cities of the European Union.
Mayor Doukas wants to change this. Athens will ban the use of e-scooters in certain streets in Athens and create designated parking areas: 70 locations have already been identified.
Some EU cities are tightening regulations, but the problems remain unresolved.
Vienna is already several steps ahead on this issue. In mid-2023, the city administration introduced new rules banning the parking of e-scooters on pavements.
The introduction of a licensing requirement for businesses hiring out e-scooters has reduced the numbers from 9000 in 2019 to around 4000 today. Five years ago, e-scooters could be hired from nine different private companies in the city – today there are only two.
Despite the new rules, problems persist: in the nearly two years since the regulations came into force, over 50,000 fines have been issued for incorrectly parked scooters.
Some users continue to ride on pavements, which is prohibited. There is also a real issue with speeding.
In Ireland, restrictions on e-scooters only came into force in May 2024. Until then, their use was technically illegal as there were no legal provisions relating to them at all.
As regards safety, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) reported in May 2025 that almost one in four regular e-scooter users had been involved in an accident in the previous 12 months, and one in three had experienced a "near miss" in the same time period.
The authors of the various studies have called on lawmakers to make the wearing of helmets on e-scooters compulsory, but this has not yet been implemented EU-wide.
When legislation to this effect was introduced in Italy last year, it caused considerable outrage; in Austria, it currently only applies to children under the age of 12.
Lithuania introduced more detailed regulations for e-scooters in early 2024, including where their use is permitted and how fast they are allowed to go.
However, a study by the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA) found that more than half of e-scooter users break the traffic regulations, showing that there is still work to be done.
"The results are sobering,’ said LTSA director Genius Lukošius. "The growing popularity of e-scooters does not automatically go hand in hand with greater awareness of regulations, safety and responsible behaviour."
In Spain, these issues have led to what are being called "scooter wars" on the streets, even though regulation there is more advanced than in Greece. E-scooters have become an integral part of the urban landscape.
One provider, Bolt, says Spain is one of the fastest-growing markets in Europe for the e-scooter business: its 2023 annual report shows Spanish growth of 78 per cent.
Julián Sastre, president of Spain’s Mobility Institute, says: "Bicycles and scooters are the perfect combination for integrating sustainable mobility into public transport infrastructure. Scooters are undeniably here to stay, but they need to be regulated."