Bill regulating scooters will go to plenum on July 14

A bill regulating scooters – including a requirement that users be aged over 14 and wear a helmet — will go before the House plenary on July 14, House transport committee president Marinos Moushouttas said on Thursday.

The Dipa MP said the bill seeks to end the absence of rules governing the increasingly popular street vehicles.

The committee also discussed the compulsory use of helmets by cyclists, he said.

The scooter bill that will go before the plenary introduces a speed limit of 20 km, he said. Most scooters don’t go beyond 15km an hour.

Users will be obliged to wear a helmet. Scooters will be permitted on cycle paths and not roads. Local authorities will have the power to issue permits for scooters to be used in squares and on pavements within the community’s or municipality’s limits, as well as on some roads, he added.

“We believe that this regulation will put an end to the uncontrolled use of these vehicles and bring order,” he said.

There will be out-of-court fines for speeding or driving a scooter outside designated areas. These will be issued by police and traffic wardens of local authorities. “Use of scooters will be permitted to people who are over 14,” he added.

Akel MP Yiannakis Gavriel said the primary concern of MPs was road safety, raising awareness and informing the public so that drivers respect scooter users. The ultimate aim is to promote micro-mobility and the use of equipment that is environmentally friendly and contribute to reducing emissions and facilitating urban mobility.

Some of the questions raised at previous meetings had been answered, but it still remained unclear who would be responsible for implementing the legislation, as the representative of the Union of Cypriot Municipalities had told MPs that they cannot, the Akel MP added.

Another outstanding issue was the co-existence of pedestrians and scooter users in common paths, he said.

“As Akel, we have once more stated our intention to cooperate with relevant authorities for the creation of a legal framework that is useful and user-friendly for the public,” he said.

As regards helmets for cyclists, Moushouttas said the proposal was to make them compulsory, subject to a €50 fine for those who fail to comply.

But Greens president Charalambos Theopemptou said his party believed it should only be compulsory for children aged under 14.

“We want the state to recommend to the public to wear a helmet but for this not to be compulsory for all cyclists,” he concluded.