If you go around Europe right now (outside of Germany), you will find e-scooters now the 'rage'.....with kids and adults on them. In Barcelona, I probably observed at least two-hundred people per day....on the streets and the sidewalks.
Germany? Well....it's been slow coming because various cities have stood in the way....often making up rules on their own, without state or federal guidance.
The e-scooters, if you haven't paid attention....can actually get up to 100 kph (60 mph), if you buy the bulked-up type with the electrical motor on each wheel. The average one will do around 30 kph (18 mph), and can be bought for around 200 Euro.
People will tell you that they are environmentally friendly, but another group will vouch that they represent a serious threat to safety (both to the driver, and to pedestrians).
There's going to be a federal discussion tomorrow (Tuesday) with the Transport Committee of the Federal Council. Some folks think that this might open the door for federal regulation and finally give the cities some kind of federal guidance.
Some comments have been said that kids as young as 12....would be allowed to drive the slower bikes (the 12 kph type). But there's already a regulation existing (for years) that says a license would be necessary for a motorized vehicle, and that age limits you to 15 years old.
There's also some hype that folks think a class of some type.....ought to be mandated. But then the question comes around to whether you'd make a person on a bicycle, or a non-motor situation (push cart, horse wagon, wheelbarrow, etc).
This is one of those odd things about Germans. They always reach a stage where they believe regulation might be necessary, and it's discussed to the ninth-degree, and you end up with a lot of extra paperwork, to perform some type of work that a nine-year-old kid could do.
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