Alshevskikh: The Sverdlovsk Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee supports a ban on electric scooters in the region’s cities. Screenshot

      The Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region is in favor of a complete ban on the deployment of electric scooters within city limits. This follows from the investigative department’s response to a request from State Duma deputy Andrey Alshevskikh.

      In a letter dated September 25 signed by acting head of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region Anatoly Nadbitov, it is stated that investigators have observed an acute situation with people being injured while using IMDs (individual mobility devices) over the past two years. Five criminal cases have been opened during this period.

      The Sverdlovsk investigative department stated that kicksharing companies do not ensure safety; the measures they have taken, in particular imposing speed limits on a number of streets, have had no effect and do not make travel by e-scooter safer for pedestrians.

      Investigators consider a complete ban on the deployment of electric scooters within city limits to be the only effective measure. Anatoly Nadbitov appealed to deputy Andrey Alshevskikh for assistance in resolving this issue. In particular, he asked him to approach the regional Legislative Assembly with a proposal to ban IMDs.

      Anatoly Nadbitov cited Perm as an example, where kicksharing is prohibited in bike parking areas and on main streets by a decision of the Perm City Duma. Nadbitov added that the Investigative Committee had already addressed the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region with similar proposals, but “they were not substantively considered.”

      “I requested the correspondence from both parties on this topic,” Alshevskikh wrote on his Telegram channel, commenting on the investigators’ appeal.