According to Vias, two Chinese brands in particular pose a serious security problem: “While legislation fixes a maximum of 25 km/h, it is very easy for these models to exceed 45 km/h, or even more. Which increases the risk of accidents. And we see a lot in our streets.“Last May, as part of the awareness campaign”2 Wheels“, The Brussels-Capitale/Ixelles (Polbru) police area had intercepted a scooter driving at 106 km/h. During this same campaign, Vias had shown that many Belgians are badly knowing the regulations framing the use of electric scooters, including traffic rules and technical limitations. One of these brands, Kukirin, had been involved in the fatal accident in Fabian. Brussels last June.
These devices, which do not meet Belgian standards, are not officially sold in the country, even if they were fraudulently in this store. “”As they are imported directly via foreign websites, estimating their number is difficult or even impossible“, regrets Benoît Godart. To stop the increase in accidents, the Vias Institute Formula Five Recommendations: prohibit the importation of models exceeding 25 km/h; accelerate the approval of a device, the”Curve“, allowing the police to measure the actual speed of the scooters; to make the wearing of the helmet compulsory, knowing that a study has shown that 60% of the serious hospitalized injured suffered from a head trauma; impose the wearing of a fluorescent vest at night to improve the visibility of users; and harden technical standards, especially in the minimum size of the wheels.
Vias also insists on the need to strengthen controls, while certain non -compliant models already circulate at high speed in public space, at the risk of increasing the number of serious accidents. If this has no direct relationship with the accident-causing side of these Chinese models, the spokesman of Vias underlines another serious problem, linked to their batteries: “It is these same marks which, when leaving them in charge overnight, can set fire“.