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by Treegarden 1171 days ago
Something vaguely similar happened in Berlin: They banned parking rental 50cc scooters on the pavement, they have to be parked on the street, competing for parking with cars. To me this is a terrible rule, completely out of touch. Scooters improve the city as they are electric, small, and less dangerous to others. I have a car and in the summer I often pay a few euros to rent those electric 50cc scooters because they are really nice. However, one of the major benefits is that you can park anywhere.

There is a designated strip on the pedestrian walkway where it used to be allowed to park them, currently its only allowed for bicycles. There is more than enough room there and as its on the side it bothers no one. So banning them from there is not necessary.

The real problem we have is not even about these specific 50cc scooters but about the smaller ones that are mentioned here. Which have not been affected by this ban. The real problem is that some bad people, maybe its the tourists, literally park them in the very middle of the walkway, blocking people and being terribly annoying. And for this, the solution would be harsh punishments. Eg. when someone parks their scooter this way they have to pay a massive fine or get banned or whatever. Maybe users could report them and get a bounty.

So, while there is a real problem, the politicians, where I live, made this terrible decision. And when I came home, exhausted from work, there was actually parking right in front of my doorstep, but it was blocked by two rental scooters.