With the arrival of spring, as the snow has almost melted, the first shared scooters have begun to appear on the streets of Moscow. Some of them, having overwintered, have returned with updates — identification numbers on the rear of the scooter directly under the brake light and on the front. The numbers are somewhat reminiscent of motorcycle license plates, but two to three times smaller. It is expected that these identification marks will help to find traffic violators among kicksharing users, focusing not on people's faces, but on the numbers. The Moscow Department of Transport has already begun testing cameras for this.
So far, only Whoosh has put identification marks on its electric scooters, but perhaps in the future other kicksharing operators will equip their personal mobility devices with them.
Last year, the Department of Transport tested cameras that identify violations in real time when driving personal mobility devices. Videos of violations are sent to us, we identify the user's account and take action — our offer provides for a fine, blocking or warning for various violations. To detect a trip with a violation, we need the address, photo/video and time and date. When there was a coordinate deviation in the trip for technical reasons, we cannot detect it. There are not many such cases, but they do happen. Therefore, we made large numbers that can be recognized if there is no coordinate data in the trip. The number is made of flexible, wear-resistant plastic, and the size does not exceed the width of the scooter. It will be as easy to recognize as car license plates.
According to a Whoosh representative, although 99% of scooter users do not violate the rules, there is always a chance to reduce violations by the remaining one percent to zero. To do this, the company believes it is important to educate personal mobility device drivers and hold them accountable.
Cameras record trips with two people, situations when people do not dismount at pedestrian crossings, lane violations (when a person is driving on a highway in the flow of cars, for example).
The presence of license plates on electric scooters will simplify the search for a violator, lawyers say. For now, however, it is unclear how they will be held accountable at the level of the traffic police, because the registration of personal mobility devices is still not provided for by law.
For the kicksharing violator search system to work, a lot of work needs to be done, experts believe. It is necessary to come up with a standard for such a registration mark, oblige all kicksharing companies to install it on their devices, configure cameras so that they film not only the road, but also the sidewalk, and also certify personal mobility devices. Whoosh believes that "colleagues" in the market will catch up soon.
This is our joint project with the Moscow Department of Transport. Other players are also planning this in the season, just probably later. And we immediately started the season with such numbers.
Fines for traffic violations on electric scooters
The Moscow City Duma in February submitted to the State Duma a bill on fines for traffic violations on personal mobility devices [personal mobility devices — ed.], in addition to electric scooters, these include gyro scooters and electric skateboards. The highest fine is proposed for drunk driving or under the influence of drugs (up to 30 thousand rubles), the smallest — for leaving the scene of an accident (up to 1.5 thousand rubles).
This initiative is due to the increase in the number of accidents involving personal mobility devices. Thus, in 9 months of 2023, more than 2.6 thousand accidents occurred with electric scooters and other personal mobility devices, which is three times more than in the same period last year.
Read also on the topic:
Russia is testing a state monitoring system for transport, scooters, drones and ambulances
Kicksharing Whoosh has localized the production of components for electric scooters in Russia
