The petition is the brainchild of Ülo Michelson and Mari-Liis Jänes, who, following a trip to Estonia's summer capital, wanted to do something about the problem, stating in the petition that the rapid introduction of e-scooters has: "Led to uncontrollable chaos on the streets and caused many complaints, as electric scooters are often parked illegally or carelessly, obstructing other road users," Pärnu Postimees reports (link in Estonian).

The pair argue that traffic legislation has not yet caught up with the relatively new phenomenon of e-scooters and similar light electric vehicles, particularly with regard to parking, which, they say, could be improved by requirements for e-scooters to be parked parallel to the roadside, rather than perpendicular to it, and not further than 10cm from the curb, on the sidewalk.

The petition is hosted on a well-known citizen's initiative portal and was only set up after inquiries with local government, the police and e-scooter firms themselves had drawn a blank.

If the petition obtains a thousand signatures, it must be debated at the Riigikogu.

The original Postimees piece (in Estonian) is here.

a-scooters first started appearing en masse on the streets of Estonia's major towns in 2019 when several rental firms started offering short hire services, via smartphone apps.

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