Two companies which provide e-scooters rental services are contesting over €200,000 in fines issued in the past five months. The fines concern obstruction and non-observance of traffic regulations which include illegal parking. The companies are insisting that the law is incorrectly treating electric scooters as motor vehicles as they seek to challenge the ‘defective’ laws in court.
The companies in question believe that the issue of abandoned scooters on pavements could be resolved easily if Transport Malta and local councils were to sit with them to provide docking stations at regular intervals. They also said that the demand for the clean mode of transport is exponentially increasing as scooters are being used for short distances by an also increasing number of unique users daily.
Bolt chief executive Klas Johansson stated that his company is busy contesting over €100,000 in fines issued by LESA officers over the past few months. He said that they are attending weekly tribunal sittings with some cases being thrown out because the judges realise that the law is not clear.
Roberto Pestana, a director of Seven Group Malta Limited, operators of Bird scooters, also said that his company provides scooters in 300 cities across Europe. The company was allegedly facing fines only in Malta. Since they began operating in Malta in May, LESA officers have been issuing fines over obstruction, dangerous or illegal parking.
The obstruction fine currently sands at €104.65 whilst all other offences carry a €23.25 fine. Petsona told Times of Malta that in just five months, up to €100,000 in fines have been racked up.
On their part, LESA CEO Svetlick Flores said wardens were simply enforcing the rules governing the use of e-scooters through subsidiary legislation for low-powered vehicles and pedal cycles and micro-mobility regulations. These regulations are specific for these modes of transport, the LESA CEO said, as they are treated differently from motor vehicles governed by the Motor Vehicle Regulations.
Electric kick scooters may, according to rules, be parked on pavements and promenades or on footpaths and in pedestrian zones so long as they do not obstruct pedestrian traffic free flow or their use by people with mobility impairment. On parking, the law states that the e-scooters are to be parked in specifically designated parking spaces such as racks.
Bird’s lawyer states that the law is ‘defective’ as scooters are not motor vehicles and cannot be considered as such. ‘An electric scooter is a stand-up device that has a handlebar, a deck and a small hard wheels powered by an electric motor which also allows for human propulsion and this doe snot make this device a motor vehicle as defined in the law.’
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Photo Source: Bolt FB, Ukrgate
