7 rules of riding a scooter around the city

The scooter, once considered nothing more than a child's toy, has become a full-fledged personal transport these days. Our streets are filled with thousands of young and not-so-young scooters, on conventional and electric vehicles. Unfortunately, not all of them realize that when they go out on the street, they become road users. Therefore, the percentage of accidents with scooters is quite high. But in order to protect yourself and others, you need to follow only 7 rules of driving around the city.

Both conventional and electric scooters with a capacity of up to 250 watts should move within the city limits only on sidewalks, bike and pedestrian paths. Of course, such a neighborhood brings little joy to pedestrians, but so they say Traffic regulations. On the roadway on scooters it is possible to leave only in cases when it is impossible to go along the sidewalk or path. On roads, you can move only along the edge of the carriageway and only in the course of traffic.

The traffic regulations do not say anything about how a scooter should cross the road. As for cyclists and moped owners, they should dismount. Crossing the road on a scooter, you will not violate anything, but for the sake of your own safety, it is still better to walk. We recommend doing this even if the traffic light is green. At this time, an ambulance or a fire truck can go, the driver of which will not have time to react to a person on a scooter.

There is no official speed limit in the traffic regulations for scooters without a motor and low-power electric scooters. But it is worth adhering to the norms adopted for other vehicles. For example, in residential areas and courtyards, it is impossible to accelerate above 20 km/h. The speed of sharing (rental) scooters in most of our cities is limited to 25 km/hour. In parks and places with busy pedestrian traffic, the speed of electric vehicle sharing is generally limited to 15 km/h.

If you own a scooter with an electric motor, the power of which exceeds 250 watts, then you can also go no faster than 20 km/h in courtyards and residential areas. On roads in populated areas, this technique can already be driven at speeds up to 60 km / h, and outside the city — up to 90 km / h. Do not also forget that road signs concern owners of powerful scooters and the restrictions prescribed by them must certainly be observed.

You can not drive any scooter in a state of alcoholic or narcotic intoxication. Fines of up to 30 thousand rubles are provided for drunk owners of equipment from 250 watts. They can also take away their rights for a year and a half, and if they are not there, they can be arrested for 15 days. You can not use after libations and sharing devices. A user caught in such abuse may be deprived of access to the rental service.

For fans of riding drunk on a low-powered scooter, there is no punishment. But such a reckless driver can punish himself very seriously. Accidents involving drunk scooters, unfortunately, occur regularly in our country. You can injure yourself or even hit a pedestrian.

According to the current traffic rules, a scooter is a pedestrian. But in fact this is not quite true, because a two-wheeled vehicle accelerates to decent speeds. Therefore, a person on a scooter always has a chance to cause serious injury to a passerby, which often happens. It must be remembered that both sidewalks and pedestrian paths are designed primarily for real pedestrians.

Scooter owners should be attentive and careful, especially in crowded areas with a large number of people. To avoid trouble, you need to control your speed and keep your distance. Where the sidewalk narrows or a crowd of people is noticed, it is better to get off the scooter and walk. It is not necessary to honk behind people's backs — some get scared and may, on the contrary, bounce under the wheels of a scooter or onto the roadway.

In the conditions of the street, the owner of the scooter should not only see well, but also hear. Therefore, the use of headphones while driving is highly undesirable. It is better to give up listening to music and talking on the phone, as you may not hear an approaching car and get into an accident.

Unfortunately, here again we have to rely only on the prudence of scooters. The traffic regulations do not mention headphones, but there is such a phrase: "Road users should act in such a way as not to create danger to traffic and not to cause harm."

In that case, if the power of the scooter exceeds 250 watts, then it is equated to mopeds. To drive such a vehicle, you already need a category M license. They receive them in the standard way — they are trained in a driving school, after which they pass exams in theory and driving. For those who pass on category B (passenger cars), the M is automatically opened.

You can control a powerful scooter only with a helmet. You also need to remember that any, even the most powerful scooter is designed for only one person. It is strictly forbidden to transport passengers. Violators of the rules may receive a fine or even lose their rights.