ÚS: Restrictions on segway electric vehicles will continue to apply in the part of Prague
Updates: 12/20/2021 12:42 PM
Released: 20.12.2021, 10:38
Brno / Prague – Restrictions on segway electric vehicles will continue to apply in part of Prague. The Constitutional Court rejected the complaint of the Segway Association of the Czech Republic, which fought against the restrictions. The court did not find a violation of the complainant’s fundamental rights. Together with the rejection of the complaint, the court rejected the proposal to repeal part of the Act on Road Traffic. The capital city council adopted regulation in the monument reserve and other high-speed pedestrian areas in 2016. He justified it mainly by protecting the safety and health of pedestrians. ČTK finds out the reaction of the association and the municipality.
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.
“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 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. 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 other means of transport cannot move at pedestrians.
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.