Walkers and jumpers: safety of compact transport discussed in OP
With the first month of summer, more and more users of personal mobility equipment (SIM) will appear on roads and sidewalks — on electric scooters, segways, and monowheels. In this regard, the Public Chamber decided to discuss the safety problems of this type of transport. The round table with the participation of experts called the "Rules of the new season of electric scooters-2025". How to drive SIM off the sidewalks and in which category to classify "boots-runners" — in the material of Izvestia.
Speed kills
From the very beginning, Vitaly Gaevsky, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Automobiles at MADI, set the tone for the discussion. He stated that the severity of the consequences of an accident is most affected by the speed and weight of the vehicle. Power is an ambiguous indicator.
— The Rules of the Road prescribe power under prolonged load, and it is several times less than the actual maximum power of electric vehicles. If we only focus on power, mopeds and motorcycles have this 30-minute power of less than 150 watts and are guaranteed to fall into the SIM category, which I am very afraid of and would like to squeeze them onto public roads," the expert noted.
Vitaly Gayevsky proposed classifying SIM by design speed and weight — no more than 25 km/h and 35 kg. Vehicles that are faster and heavier are automatically considered mopeds and motorcycles, and they must be taken to the road.
Into four categories
In addition, many types of "compact transport" did not fall into any category.
— Two—seater mopeds and bicycles don't appear anywhere now, because they are not SIM, but they are increasingly appearing on the roads, and there are wheelless vehicles - walkers, jumpers. They also appear on the roads and do not relate to anything," said Vitaly Gayevsky.
He suggested dividing "compact transport" into four categories. The first category includes low—speed and light transport - up to 14 km/h and 25 kg. The expert also includes roller skates, segways, gyro scooters and speed boots. The second category includes medium—speed transport up to 25 km/h. The third category is high—speed, but lightweight vehicles, accelerating over 24 km / h, weighing up to 35 kg. These include, for example, monowheels. The fourth category is high—speed and heavy (35-40 kg) vehicles.
Split the streams
Gaevsky proposed to distinguish between three streams: cars, sims and pedestrians. Different speeds mean different flows. According to him, vehicles of the third and fourth categories move along the roadway or the shoulder. The first and second categories of compact transport are along bike paths and dedicated lanes, with priority given to cyclists. Finally, pedestrians move safely along sidewalks and footpaths.
As a security measure, he suggested that the sharing companies introduce differentiated tariffs so that the price is minimal when traveling at a speed of 15 km/h.
— Then there will be no fines or restrictions. The person himself will pay for this average speed," the expert believes. In exactly the same way, he suggests fighting with riding SIM together. In addition, Vitaly Gayevsky also spoke out for the need to develop special vehicles for couriers and conduct crash tests of SIM.
Although the participants of the round table decided to focus on the discussion of SIM, the topic of courier electric bicycles was also repeatedly mentioned.
Alexander Kholodov, deputy chairman of the Commission on safety and interaction with the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, noted that bicycle couriers take advantage of the fact that there is an "indistinct boundary" between a bicycle and a moped. Moreover, they disguise themselves not as SIM cards, but as electric bicycles. According to statistics provided by Vitaly Gayevsky, 54 people died in accidents involving SIM last year, but 26 of them were in accidents involving electric motor vehicles.
Should SIM be allowed on the road
In general, the participants of the round table supported the idea of delineating flows. However, Vladimir Medeyko, an expert at the interregional public organization KoleSIM, suggested that pushing inexperienced riders onto the roadway would lead to an increase in accidents with serious consequences. Yakov Yakubovich, a leading expert at the RSSU Center for Social Research and Technology, the former head of the Tverskoy district of Moscow, disagrees with him, saying that he himself travels around Moscow by bicycle.
— I find it much more pleasant to drive along temporary orange lanes that disappear in winter. Drivers get used to it and drive more carefully. Municipal authorities need to make efforts on themselves and allocate a part of the roadway for THIS," he said.
Making changes to the traffic regulations solves the problems of "scooters", while it solves the problems of pedestrians poorly, said Andrey Moiseev, Executive Secretary of the Russian Bar Association.
— The sidewalk is a pedestrian safety zone. Regulation should be based on changes in traffic regulations and legislation in terms of granting municipal authorities powers over territorial zoning," he said.
The infrastructure will allow to separate the flows and remove the SIM from the sidewalks with proper control, says Alexey Smirnov, founder of InnovaTransport and an expert at the Association of Micromobility Operators.
Equally important is the culture of using personal mobility aids, especially among private traders, who are more likely to break the rules and are much more dangerous in the city. In addition, unlike kicksharing scooters, they cannot yet be identified.
Fines don't work
Not all traffic violators at kicksharing receive fines, according to Alexey Tsivilev, head of the transport commission of the St. Petersburg City Legislative Assembly. In his opinion, only harsh measures can free the sidewalks from the SIM.
— Last year, the governor introduced four districts where parking of scooters is prohibited, and in these areas it is quiet and smooth. People are happy. There is no one who would speak: "Return the scooters." We believe that if there are wide sidewalks in Moscow, lines should be highlighted, and people should understand that this is a danger zone. If the sidewalks are narrow, then leave them only to pedestrians. Anything that's mechanical, let it stay. All electrical equipment is removed from sidewalks and rides only on bike paths and carriageways at its own risk," the deputy noted.
They only promise
He also hurt the kicksharing operators, who, according to him, contribute nothing to the budget.
— They only promise in the spring, but they disappear in the fall. If they want bike paths, please let them build them. But they don't want to. They only want to raise money. They stated that their fees in 2020 were 5 billion in revenue, and last year — 34 billion. They earn 77 thousand rubles from one scooter. And they say: probably, we will give one thousand to the budget of the subject, — Tsivilev noted.
Maxim Mukhtabarov, Director of the Department for Interaction with Government Authorities at MTS Yuret, indicated that his company was transferring funds to the budget. In his speech, he focused on pilot projects that made it possible to increase the readability of SIM numbers and streamline authorization. According to him, operators have tested a large number of cities, and where paving stones or high curbs created difficulties, slow zones and parking prohibition zones were formed. There are more than 3,500 such zones in the country. Maxim Mukhtabarov added that all the pilot projects were conducted on a voluntary basis.
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