Kyranakis was responding in the plenary session to a topical question from New Democracy MP Dimitris Kouvelas on the ‘regulation and control of electric scooter traffic on urban roads’.

Kyranakis argued that minors see riding scooters ‘almost like a video game’ and said this must change.

‘Since we have not managed as a society, as families, as a state, each to take our share of responsibility and ensure that minors comply with the traffic rules they should follow on Greek roads, on Greek asphalt […] we will proceed with a bill, which will be submitted within the next ten days, introducing a complete ban on minors riding electric scooters on the road,’ he said.

‘This means, however, that it concerns both those rented from rental companies and those owned privately,’ he added.

Kyranakis also recalled that a specific law already sets out the urban specifications for privately owned electric scooters. From the floor of parliament, he addressed ‘commercial businesses that sell electric scooters with a speed limit greater than 25 kilometres, beyond what is provided for in the law’, saying: ‘This is an illegal act. And it is being prosecuted. And it will be prosecuted even more strictly.’

Kouvelas, who tabled the question, said a ban on scooter traffic ‘is very important’. He also raised the issue of people who rent scooters and then abandon them on pavements, proposing ‘that the credit card of the person who rents an electric scooter continue to be charged when they do not park it in the designated area’.

Kyranakis noted that responsibility for creating parking spaces for scooters lies with municipalities.

The deputy minister also said that ‘with the bill we are introducing in ten days, we are now extending the insurance framework to the driver, when there is a scooter for private use’.

On the need to ban under-18s from riding electric scooters on roads, he said this is ‘the clearest solution so that the police can actually enforce the law’.

He concluded: ‘All of us […] when we were younger, may have gone out on our bicycles on the road. Such a situation as today has never existed. We are being told by the Ministry of Health […] that the situation in emergency departments is very bad. Too many minors are being transported injured. We may not have many fatalities, but these injuries are worrying for us as a state and as parents who have minor children. We must act. The bill is coming in ten days.’

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