Terror in Prague: scooters block sidewalks and entrance doors. The city is at a loss.
There are several companies operating in Prague that rent out shared scooters. Although in their applications they inform users to behave respectfully, obey traffic laws and park only in places designated for this, it still does not help and complaints are increasing. Citizens of Prague are bothered by scooters parked on the sidewalks or rolling in the road. The extreme is electric scooters blocking the entrances to houses. A healthy person may be held back for a while and can move, but a disabled person is “Trapped”. The weight of these scooters is around 100 kilograms.
“A scooter is a means of transport, similar to a car or a bicycle, and may park only where the law allows, i.e. on the road (while respecting the rules and restrictions) or in designated areas, which can also be considered bike racks or other reserved places on the sidewalk and marked space on the sidewalk,” municipality spokesman Vít Hofman told Blesk. Correct parking is the responsibility of the users themselves.
The very idea of shared e-scooters as a mode of transportation in the city is not bad, therefore the city supports it, but the operators have no control over reckless users. “Operators simply fail to deliver on their promises about the seamless operation of their services and one can only argue whether it is because they do not have the will to really enforce their promises, or because they really cannot do it,” comments Vít Hofman. They say there are no major problems with private users.
Problematic parking
Prague 5 also faces criticism from the public on social networks. Some residents do not like the fact that in the case of scooters blocking the entrance, the town hall advises people to report problems to the operator. It does nothing to remove itself. At the same time, according to a press spokesperson, Prague 5 receives messages from disgruntled residents about reckless parking and loitering scooters, but it cannot do much about it itself. However, she never allowed the occupation of problematic public places.
Offenses of this type can only be dealt with by the city police, which is under the thumb of the municipality. Prague 5 and other city districts are said to lack “leverages”. “There is a need to create a comprehensive system within the whole of Prague, some districts are trying pilot projects, but the final solution should come from the capital. m of Prague – only then will it be functional,” adds Prague 5 press spokesman Tomáš Haas.
Plan where to park
According to Vít Hofman, Prague is trying to unify the approach by discussing and issuing a methodology for marking parking spaces so that they are appropriate throughout Prague and easily recognizable by the public. It is noted, however, that individual localities should be chosen by the city districts themselves, “Parking places, just like parking, are therefore dealt with by individual city districts, they are the ones that often appear as citizens’ reminders,” because they ensure
Out of desperation, the municipality turned to the Ministry of Transport and even prepared a proposal to change the law. “Unfortunately, we did not find an agreement here with colleagues from MD. We concluded a memorandum with the scooter operators in the past, but it turned out that they were dysfunctional because, in the event of real problems, the city did not have the tools to deploy the smooth functioning of the services, and its termination by the city was only a natural consequence,” concludes Vít Hofman.
Reckless electric scooters in the city center. David Malik
Lime scooters have flooded Prague, they are parked all around.
Author: Karel Kopáč