Everyone using the both loved and hated electric scooters in Norway next week will need to abide by stricter rules beginning next week. As of June 15, riders can lose their driver’s licenses if caught operating an el-scooter with a blood alcohol level of 0.2 or higher.
No one under the age of 12 can operate the scooters and everyone under age 15 is required to use a helmet. Those old enough to have driver’s licenses face the same laws against drunk-driving as they would if driving a car.
“I’m glad we’re finally getting these rules in place,” Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård of the Labour party stated in a press release. “For too long we’ve seen an unacceptably high number of serious accidents and injuries among those using the scooters (still called elsparkesykler in Norwegian even though they’re no longer classified as sykler, or bicycles).
They can still be operated on sidewalks, however, much to the disgust of pedestrians. Scooter operators and the government decided, however, that forcing scooters onto the streets could result in more accidents, and even more deaths.
newsinenglish.no staff
