Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt has called for stricter federal rules on private electric scooters, partly backing a proposal to ban them over safety concerns.
Such a ban was needed to improve safety, Brussels mobility expert Dirk Lauwers told Bruzz.
Lauwers cited Antwerp police figures from the past three years showing that for every accident involving a shared e-scooter, there were five involving a privately owned one.
Van den Brandt acknowledged the problem but stressed that the regulation of private e-scooters was a federal responsibility, not a regional one. She said the rules should be tightened significantly.
The Mobility Minister noted that private e-scooters were widely used, and that the risk of a serious accident was ten times higher on a scooter than on a bicycle. She attributed this to the so-called “catapult effect.”
The issue must be addressed as a matter of road safety, she stressed.
From 1 January 2027, shared e-scooters will be banned in Brussels.
However, a similar measure was introduced in Paris in 2023, but by 2025, the number of e-scooter accidents in the French capital had risen by 33%.
Under current law, the maximum permitted speed is 25 km/h, although some models exceed that limit.
