Electric scooter companies Voi and Tier will set a reduced speed limit for all their scooters starting next week. The new restriction will be 15 kilometers per hour and will take effect in downtown areas at night in cities around Finland.

In the past, the speed limit has been 25 kilometers per hour.

“Together with Voi, we have decided to lower the speed limits in the downtown areas to 15 km / h at night from the end of next week. Based on an experimental schedule, we will try this until the end of August,” Tier Finland’s commercial. Manager Elina Bürkland stated in a press release.

The companies will also meet with representatives of the Ministry of Transport at the end of August to present and evaluate the results of the experiment.

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Electric scooters have been the subject of much public debate recently due to an increase in accidents and injuries.

Sami MustajokiThe head of the emergency department at Tampere University Hospital (TAYS) told Yle last August that two out of three electric scooter accidents occur at night. He added that most of the people involved in the accidents were drunk at the time.

Deputy Mayor of Tampere Aleksi Jäntti (NCP) said he is not always in favor of speed limits, but he welcomes the initiative to reduce speeds at certain times and in certain areas.

“There has been a debate about whether e-scooter applications could include some kind of reaction test. It could be useful to some extent to test whether people are fit to drive,” Jäntti said, adding that he was concerned about the number of cars. Accidents involving electric kickboards reported by TAYS.

He urges people to drive responsibly and wear a helmet.

“I think the problem group is small, and most users of electric scooters do it responsibly,” Jäntti said.

Helsinki Jonny Holm told Yle that she uses electric scooters almost daily and even though she tries to drive responsibly all the time, there have been shaves.

“Once I drove through a red light on an electric scooter and the car came. Luckily nothing happened,” he said.

Holm adds that he always slows down for pedestrians and other traffic, but sometimes people shout after him if he thinks he got too close when passing.

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Espoo resident Sofia Tervola told Yle that he had never used an electric scooter, but believes the speed limit is a good initiative because he doesn’t think it’s very safe.

“Scooters can sometimes come as a surprise if someone comes behind you quickly,” he said.