News Sharp increase in drink-driving cases linked to e-scooters

[thomas]

Tokyo and other big cities have seen a sharp increase in traffic accidents involving intoxicated e-scooter riders. Electric scooters have become widespread in metropolitan areas through rental and sharing services as a cheap and easy mode of transportation, including for people who have missed their last trains but do not want to pay for taxis to get home.

In Tokyo, police investigated 39 drunken-driving cases linked to e-scooters in the nine months through September, up from just one case in the whole of last year. "Why are you just stopping me? Everyone rides them after drinking," exclaimed a man in his 40s when he was stopped by a police officer near Tokyo's Shibuya Station on Oct. 15 while riding an e-scooter home after drinking. He failed to pass an alcohol breath test. "When we see e-scooter users at nighttime in downtown areas, the first thing we suspect is drunken driving," said a senior officer of the Metropolitan Police Department, adding the investigated cases this year were "only the tip of the iceberg." Japan revised its traffic law in April, scrapping the need for a license to ride e-scooters with a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour as well as the requirement for users to wear helmets.

Japan sees sharp rise in drunken-driving cases linked to e-scooters

Japan has recently seen a sharp increase in the number of people being caught riding electric scooters under the influence of alcohol, amid the growing popularity of the vehicles.

english.kyodonews.net

I have encountered them several times when cycling in Tokyo, and I have yet to see one e-scooter rider wearing a helmet. They ride on big roads (R246, Meiji-dori, Aoyama-dori, etc.) amidst heavy traffic. Mix in drink-driving, and I see their usage severely restricted in the future.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Born to be wild.