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Uruguay road safety agency calls for electric scooter regulation update
🇺🇾 Uruguay /Economy & Trade

Uruguay road safety agency calls for electric scooter regulation update

From El País · (4h ago) Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Uruguay's National Road Safety Unit (Unasev) president Marcelo Metediera called for updated regulations on electric scooters.
  • Current national rules, established in 2020, do not account for newer models capable of speeds up to 60 km/h, exceeding urban limits.
  • Proposed adjustments include mandatory helmets and vests, vehicle registration linked to owners for accountability, and defining minimum age and circulation routes.

The proliferation of electric scooters on Montevideo's streets presents a growing challenge that demands immediate attention from national and local authorities. While these personal mobility devices offer a convenient and increasingly popular mode of transport, their unregulated use poses significant safety risks.

Hay muchas juntas departamentales preocupadas por esta situación, municipios también, y estoy hablando de los del interior del país

— Marcelo MetedieraPresident of the National Road Safety Unit (Unasev) on the widespread concern regarding electric scooter regulation across different departments and municipalities in Uruguay.

Unasev President Marcelo Metediera has rightly highlighted the urgent need to "adjust the regulations" for these vehicles. The existing 2020 framework is clearly outdated, failing to address the dramatic increase in scooter speeds and capabilities. We are seeing devices capable of reaching 60 km/h, far exceeding safe urban speeds and creating a dangerous environment for both riders and pedestrians.

ajustar la normativa de los monopatines

— Marcelo MetedieraPresident of Unasev, calling for an update to the existing regulations concerning electric scooters.

From our perspective at El País, it is crucial that any new regulations strike a balance between promoting innovation in urban mobility and ensuring public safety. The call for mandatory helmets, vests, and a registration system linked to owners is a sensible step towards accountability. This is not about imposing burdensome "patentes" or "matrículas," as Montevideo's Intendant Mario Bergara clarified, but about establishing a clear link between rider and vehicle to enforce responsibility.

La normativa [...] establece reglas de juego, pero era para los monopatines que ingresaban al país en ese momento, que tenían una velocidad máxima de 25 kilómetros por hora, hoy estamos teniendo monopatines que andan a 60 kilómetros por hora y más, es decir, superior a las velocidades permitidas en la planta urbana

— Marcelo MetedieraExplaining the inadequacy of the current 2020 regulations for electric scooters, which were designed for slower models and do not account for newer, faster devices.

Furthermore, defining minimum ages and designated circulation routes will help integrate these scooters safely into our existing traffic infrastructure. We must learn from the experiences of other departments and municipalities grappling with this issue and forge a unified national approach. This is an opportunity to demonstrate proactive governance and adapt our legal framework to the evolving realities of urban transportation.

todos los monopatines tienen que usar casco y chaleco

— Marcelo MetedieraStating the need for mandatory safety equipment for all electric scooter users.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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