Constitutional Court: Restrictions on segway electric vehicles will continue to apply in part of Prague
Judge Jan Filip said that bans could be set where there was any danger. The court thus found nothing unconstitutional for the capital to regulate the operation of transporters in the historic and wider center with regard to pedestrian safety.
The municipality clarified the adoption of the regulation by saying that the area includes the Prague Monument Reserve, where there is a high concentration of pedestrians, as well as a wider area densely populated as a large number of pedestrians. The aim of the restriction was to protect pedestrians from the risk of collisions with transporters.
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“By restricting the movement of these vehicles, we are responding to complaints from citizens, especially in the city center. therefore we welcome, “said Prague spokesman Vít Hofman in response to the court’s decision.
The court’s decision also praised the square of Prague Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague Sobě). “A city or municipality can determine what it wants to operate on its territory and what it does not and what bothers the lives of drivers or citizens in a given place, and set the rules accordingly,” he said.
The association stated in the constitutional complaint that the transporters are not dangerous and that there are no clashes with pedestrians in practice. According to the Constitutional Court, entry can also be preventive, without certain police statistics or citizens’ complaints. The court stated that it was not necessary to prove the reasons for endangering pedestrian safety, as they are based on the technical characteristics and parameters of passenger carriers.
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According to Fiala, the transporter weighs 47 kilograms, and if a person weighing about 100 kilograms drives around a blind person or a mother with children at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, an unpleasant situation can arise. The judge also said that in some countries the operation of these facilities is allowed, in some it is not. He cited the United Kingdom as an example, where vehicles cannot move at pedestrian traffic.
The association has previously failed with a lawsuit before the Municipal Court in Prague or a subsequent cassation complaint before the Supreme Administrative Court. In particular, the courts dealt with measures of a general nature which belong to the placement of traffic signs in the territory defined by another municipal regulation. The Supreme Administrative Court assessed the regulation as adequate and duly justified.