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Paris to restrict electric scooters after spate of accidents

Mayor Anne Hidalgo said there had been serious injuries and many near-misses across city due to trend for the new fashionable travel device.

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Paris is cracking down on electric scooters after a dangerous and chaotic year on the City of Light’s roads and pavements as the craze for the “trottinettes” (in French) saw the machines flood the capital, reports FRANCE 24.

Paris’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo said there have been a spate of injuries, some serious, and many near-misses across the city due to the trend for the new fashionable travel device.

The key problem being that the riders for electric scooters, or e-scooters, do not stick to just the roads, but also the capital's narrow pavements (sidewalks) and do not not wear helmets.

“We need order and rules to assure road safety and to calm the streets, sidewalks and neighborhoods of our city,” Hidalgo said Thursday.

“It’s not far from anarchy and it’s extremely difficult for a city like ours to manage this kind of service,” Hidalgo added.

Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.