In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of underage e-scooter users in Russia. According to major kicksharing companies, over 50,000 cases of e-scooter use by teenagers have been recorded in the past year. Journalists note that these users' accounts are not being blocked.
Regional authorities also confirm the problem of teenagers violating traffic rules on scooters. St. Petersburg has a high rate of accidents involving kicksharing, mostly involving teenagers. The situation in Yekaterinburg and other cities is exacerbated by the increasing number of scooters, making it even more difficult to monitor compliance with the rules.
In some cities, such as Blagoveshchensk, teenagers make up to 70% of kicksharing users. Over the year, the administration received more than 600 complaints, about 40% of which concerned violations committed by minors. The problem is also relevant in Yakutia, Saratov, and Primorsky Krai.
The leading companies in the kicksharing market are MTS Urent, Yandex Go, and Whoosh. This year in Moscow, renting e-scooters requires verification via Mos ID. This led to the blocking of 32,000 accounts that failed the age verification. Operators claim to be working on identifying violations and blocking underage accounts, but the effectiveness of these measures remains questionable.
According to experts, insufficient penalties for underage e-scooter rentals are due to both economic and technical barriers. The possibility of introducing biometric verification is being considered, which would require significant investment but could help reduce the number of violations.
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