e-scooters should be banned in Germany due to the increased number of accidents involving such vehicles, Andreas Gassen, head of the association of German statutory health insurance physicians (KBV), said on Monday.
“E-scooters should be completely banned. Only that would help avoid injuries,” Gassen told the German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.
“From a medical point of view, they are just too dangerous, so get rid of them,” emphasized Gassen.
Since e-scooters had been introduced in Germany in mid-June, “we have significantly more injured people,” according to Gassen.
The injuries ranged from complex fractures of arms and legs and extended to head injuries and even deaths and from a medical perspective, it had been “irresponsible” to allow e-scooters in Germany, the head criticized.
E-scooters are allowed to be driven on cycle paths or roads at a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour in Germany. Using the vehicles on footpaths and in pedestrian zones is prohibited.
German Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier had rejected stricter rules for electric scooters this weekend, telling the newspapers of the Funke Media Group that he was in favor of “freedom in road traffic”.
There were already “more than enough bans” in Germany, stated Altmaier, but emphasized the importance of guaranteeing the safety of all road users.
Today, Siegfried Brockmann from the German Insurance Association (GDV) expressed a similar sentiment, telling the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung that banning e-scooters so soon after their introduction was “nonsense”.
