Police carry out electric scooter raid near Rae Municipality schools
Police identified nine electric scooters that did not meet legal requirements and nearly 40 young riders without helmets during an operation near schools in Rae Municipality.
Half an hour before the start of the school day, the first electric scooters began arriving outside Kindluse School where police were waiting for them Monday. For children who live nearby, scooters are one of the most convenient ways to get around and most of them pose no problems. However, during a morning operation at four schools, police identified nine scooters that were not permitted on the road.
"Today, our focus was on checking vehicles that can travel faster than 25 kilometers per hour because that is our main problem. These are not personal light electric vehicles; they essentially qualify as motor vehicles, which means the rider must have the appropriate category of driver's license and the vehicle must be registered. Unfortunately, these are also involved in the largest number of fatal accidents," said Mari-Liis Mölder, a group supervisor at the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA).
Fifteen minutes before classes began, police also spotted some students carrying only their helmets, having left their electric scooters farther away.
According to police, the most common scooters they encounter can reach speeds of 50 to 65 kilometers per hour instead of the permitted 25 kilometers per hour, although they have seen even faster ones.
"We've also seen 75, 80 and 90 km/h come up on the display. My own sense is that this problem has by no means been resolved. I think awareness is growing, but if we continue to see more than 10 violations at every school, I would say the problem remains significant," Mölder said.
Another problem is riding without a helmet. Police found a total of 38 children doing so Monday morning. The operation at schools in Rae Municipality was not the first of its kind and will not be the last. School communities are taking the issue seriously.
"We send information to our parents as well as direct messages to students. We also began the school year with a joint assembly where this was a very important topic — how our students ride scooters and what the culture around riding them is like," said Laura Vaikma, deputy principal of Kindluse School.
Following a police check, a child with no previous violations receives a warning and their parent is asked to come and collect the scooter. If the child has received previous warnings, police may also initiate proceedings. They did so Monday in the case of one 14-year-old.
--
Editor: Marcus Turovski, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
