Scooters on the streets, an accident every three days. The data

123 accidents in the year of the lockdown, one every three days at a time when most people spent months indoors. And there is also a dead man. These are the numbers of the clashes and accidents in which they were involved electric scooters in the last 12 months. Most took place in large cities, especially in the North, with Milan in the lead, but also in Rome. These are the first statistics on these media and are worrying according to theAsaps Observatory, Association of friends and supporters of the traffic police, which collected them.

The concern is due to still low numbers of scooters, which only this year for the highway code have been equated to bicycles, and the period in which they were detected. If there is an accident every three days in a year with the limitation of travel and with an estimated number of vehicles between 70 and 80 thousand, what could happen at a time of increased circulation?

Among other things, the numbers of accidents could be partial as many are not reported either to the road or to the local police given the minor damage. Asaps explains that «The main cause of an accident is an autonomous fall due to overturning, without hitting obstacles ». To weigh is the inexperience of the drivers, often young, but also the distraction while driving, including that for the use of smartphones while on the road. And again, “the road maintenance of many city arteries, with holes and depressions that do not facilitate the use of a vehicle with very small wheels, especially in historic centers”.

There are also front and side, especially at crossroads due to non-compliance with priorities, and collisions with fixed obstacles.

Most of the incidents, 54, occurred in Lombardy, in particular in Milano where there is considerable circulation of these media also in sharing. Piedmont and Lazio follow, with a particularly difficult situation a Roma. The only victim is in the province of Bologna: in June in Budrio a 60-year-old died in a collision with a car in a roundabout. Among the injured there are 11 with a reserved prognosis and 47 with a prognosis of more than 40 days. Thirty of those involved in accidents were under the age of 18.

«We agree with the use of means of electric micro-mobility, also as an aid to the environment to limit pollution “, explains Giordano Biserni, president of Asaps,” but we see too many users riding the streets with scooters as if they were in a road prairie, which does not exist “. The association asks for the respect of the signs by the drivers of scooters, but also the increase of controls and penalties. He would like the introduction of a license plate and insurance coverage and recommends the use of a helmet.