End of electric scooters in Paris: French capital completely bans hire scooters from its streets

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00 It's the end of what some may remember as an era of freedom, but electric rental scooters

00:05 in Paris have been driven out and banned from the city.

00:10 The mayor put the brakes on their growing popularity after 89% of voters backed a ban

00:14 on the so-called free floating services.

00:18 While only 7% of Parisians eligible actually took part in the referendum, disruption to

00:23 traffic and pedestrians, as well as the sometimes fatal crashes, have led to concerns for people's

00:28 safety.

00:30 "At times there are two or three people on one scooter, with headphones on.

00:36 Even if I honk, they don't hear anything, so it's really dangerous."

00:39 15,000 scooters from the three main companies that operated in Paris are now being moved

00:45 to other cities in France and abroad.

00:49 Some are being serviced beforehand.

00:51 "Most of the time, all we need to do is tighten the brake cables and ensure that the electrical

00:59 parts are working as they should.

01:01 We're focusing above all on safeguarding jobs, despite having to remove our 5,000 scooters."

01:07 And for this, companies are focusing on their bicycle rental services.

01:12 While Paris has become the first European capital to impose the ban, personal electric

01:16 scooters are still permitted.

01:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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