Grow big: new restrictions will be introduced for SIM users
The number of accidents involving personal mobility aids (IMS) increased by almost 43% last year. To reduce the number of such incidents, at the initiative of kicksharing operators, the maximum speed of all rental scooters in the country has been forcibly reduced to 20 km/h. In addition, rental services offer to introduce quotas for this equipment in cities. Izvestia found out what other restrictions have already been introduced for SIM cards this season and which ones may appear.
"They're behaving badly"
According to the results of last year, 4,426 accidents involving SIM were registered in Russia, which is 42.8% more than in 2023. This was announced by the Head of the Scientific Center for Road Safety at the international Industry Conference on Micromobility The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Dmitry Mitroshin. 54 people died in such incidents (+25%), the number of victims increased by 44.5% (4,591 people), he noted. 51 victims were driving the SIM themselves, Dmitry Mitroshin emphasized. Two of the dead were pedestrians and another victim was a cyclist who was hit by an electric scooter, he added.
"The dead are most often people aged 20-40 years. At the same time, most of the victims of accidents involving SIM are children and the elderly," Dmitry Mitroshin said. He also noted that almost half of the 1,254 accidents involving electric bicycles (they are not included in the accident statistics for SIM) involved employees of delivery services.
"A serious problem is the couriers of the delivery services. They are behaving outrageously," Dmitry Mitroshin said.
To change the situation with couriers on electric bicycles, it is necessary to strengthen control not only over the deliverers themselves, but also over the delivery services, he believes. In his opinion, these companies should provide appropriate training to their employees, keep records and analyze accidents involving them — by analogy with transport companies.
As previously reported by Izvestia, the Ministry of Transport intends to introduce additional restrictions for couriers of delivery services using electric bicycles. In particular, they may be banned from driving on sidewalks.
On my own initiative
In order to reduce the risks for both SIM users themselves, as well as for pedestrians and other road users, the day before, the three largest kicksharing operators reduced the maximum speed for their rental electric scooters.
— Together with other operators, we decided to limit the maximum speed across the country to 20 km/h. This will reduce the number of potentially dangerous situations with rental scooters," said Dmitry Chuiko, founder of the Whoosh service.
Reducing the maximum speed is an independent decision of the kicksharing operators, emphasized Alyona Sukharevskaya, PR Director of MTS Yrent service.
"It aims to make electric scooter rides safer for both users and pedestrians," she said.
The so-called "slow zones" previously established in a number of cities, where the speed of rolling SIM is forcibly reduced to 5-15 km/h (for example, there are more than 350 such zones in Moscow), remain, said Leonid Yasinovsky, head of the Yandex Go scooter project. He noted that the operators will analyze the places where the speed limit may be increased in the future. According to him, this is primarily possible in areas with appropriate road infrastructure.
Leonid Yasinovsky also proposed to introduce quotas for the number of rental electric scooters, depending on the number of residents in the village. In his opinion, this will make it possible to relieve urban infrastructure and restore order in traffic, including on sidewalks. In addition, such measures will make trips on rental SIMS more comfortable and safer for all road users, he is sure.
Awaiting new fines
The State Duma is considering several bills concerning the introduction of new fines for traffic violations by persons managing the SIM, recalled the chairman of the Moscow City Duma Alexei Shaposhnikov. They provide for a significant increase in sanctions for violations committed by this category of road users, he noted.
For example, for the use of alcohol or drugs by SIM drivers, as well as for refusing a medical examination, it is planned to impose a fine of 30 thousand rubles. They are scheduled to be fined 1-1.5 thousand rubles for leaving the scene of an accident, and 1 thousand rubles for obstructing pedestrians. A trip together on one electric scooter will cost 3 thousand rubles, and transportation of children will cost 5 thousand rubles.
— We really hoped that these and other changes in the legislation concerning SIM would be adopted before the start of the new season of trips on this equipment. Unfortunately, the process has been delayed, and these fines have not yet been introduced," said Alexey Shaposhnikov.
He stressed that large numbers were installed on rental scooters in the capital — they are recognized by cameras with a neural network. This allows you to identify the user who violated traffic regulations and issue him a fine, Shaposhnikov noted.
Last year, kicksharing operators themselves fined about 840,000 users of rental SIM cards for violating the rules of their use, said Ksenia Erdman, director of the Association of Micromobility Operators. At the same time, in 2024, police officers issued approximately 90 thousand fines for administrative offenses committed on the SIM, she noted.
— In fact, kicksharing operators perform the functions of law enforcement agencies. It's probably not quite right," she says.
Catch a private trader
One of the serious problems associated with SIM is the de facto impunity of their owners, said Ilya Zotov, Deputy chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Transport.
— Rental electric scooters have numbers that allow you to identify the violator. This technique can be forcibly slowed down in one area or another. But if we are talking about personal SIM cards, then there are no numbers on them, and they don't mind the "slow" zones," he said in a conversation with Izvestia.
The requirements of the law should be the same for all SIM users, regardless of whether they use rental or personal equipment, Ilya Zotov emphasized. Therefore, he considers it necessary to introduce mandatory registration of this equipment with the receipt of numbers by private individuals.
Confirm your age
Experts call the introduction of mandatory user verification an important innovation in order to be able to rent an electric scooter with confirmation of its age. However, so far such a system operates only in Moscow through the Mos ID service using an account on the portal. mos.ru .
— Similar requirements should be introduced in other cities where there are SIM rental services. And there should be no conditionals. spb.ru , kazan.ru , sochi.ru — it should be a single service for the whole country, for example, using the public services portal, — says Ksenia Erdman.
Ilya Zotov believes that on such a single service, along with age confirmation, the user should also attend a training course on the rules of using the SIM and, possibly, take some kind of small test on knowledge of traffic regulations.
— In fact, this may be a kind of access rights to operate this equipment, — Ilya Zotov explained.
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