Florence will ban e-scooter sharing providers from the beginning of April, officers introduced on Saturday.
In a assertion revealed on Florence metropolis council’s web site, transport chief Andrea Giorgio stated latest adjustments to the Highway Code would make it unimaginable for town to implement Italy’s highway legal guidelines.
The authorities final December launched strict new guidelines on the usage of monopattini elettrici, requiring customers to put on a helmet, match their automobile with a licence plate and get third-party driver insurance coverage.
“The nature of free-flow sharing, with no fastened pick-up and drop-off factors, makes it extraordinarily tough to make sure compliance with the helmet requirement,” the council stated.
“This creates the circumstances for potential systematic violations of the Highway Code, which is unacceptable for city and highway security.”
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Giorgio added that widespread misuse of the scooters, “with automobiles usually poorly parked or pushed within the incorrect route or on pavements” additionally fashioned a part of the council’s decision-making course of.
The announcement drew ire from suppliers, with operator Bird telling Corriere della Sera newspaper it had discovered of the ban from the press “regardless of having requested a gathering with Councillor Giorgio two months in the past”.
E-scooter supplier Bit stated it had 30,000 energetic customers in Florence, 97 % of whom had been Italian.
“The service is extremely appreciated: it would trigger big injury to town’s picture,” the corporate’s representatives stated.
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The metropolis stated would enhance the numbers of bicycles obtainable by bike-sharing providers to compensate for the lack of the scooters and undertake measures to decrease prices for customers, with out offering additional particulars.
The incoming ban is a part of a wider crackdown on non-traditional automobiles in Florence, after the council banned golf carts, rickshaws and different ‘atypical’ modes of transport used to take vacationers across the metropolis centre in October.
Tour operators stated they’d attraction that call in Italy’s courts.
