Istanbul’s Kadıköy municipality has determined to take motion in opposition to inappropriately parked e-scooters that impede the general public, particularly individuals with disabilities and child prams.
“Our concern is to not ban any technique of transportation however to manage it. Not a day goes by that these scooters don’t crash and injure a citizen. The disabled or child prams can not move as a result of the scooters are parked incorrectly on the sidewalks. Our concern is to make sure that pedestrians can stroll comfortably on the pavement in Kadıköy,” the Kadıköy Mayor Şerdil Dara Odabaşı explained, asserting that the “rights of pedestrians are our precedence.”
The mayor mentioned that simply as in different components of the world, e-scooters have been used as a brand new technique of transportation in Türkiye however with no laws. However, laws emerged after a while. According to the laws, district municipalities don’t have any proper to intrude with e-scooters. “But we have to deal with all the problems that are caused by e-scooters,” the mayor maintained.
“Since I took office, we have widened the pavement by 50 kilometers (31.07 miles) in four years to facilitate pedestrians. We have limited all occupations on the pavement within the framework of the rules. The e-scooter is the only allowed vehicle on the pavement. We will also confiscate billboards and anything that causes rule violations. Motor couriers also use the sidewalk or park for crossing quickly. We will also intervene in that matter,” Odabaşı defined.
Warning that each car parked on the pavement might be confiscated, Odabaşı mentioned: “Our concern is to take all measures to permit pedestrians to stroll comfortably on the pavement in Kadıköy. The regulation gave the supervisory authority to the General Directorate of Security and Gendarmerie. However, attributable to Article 6 of the Constabulary Law, if there’s an impediment on the pavements in such public locations, now we have the authority to take away them. By making use of this text, we’ll confiscate all scooters or different automobiles that forestall or make it unattainable for pedestrians to move.”
“We will keep those vehicles in a warehouse. The owner will come and pay the penalty according to the legislation and only then we will return the scooters,” she defined.
“It is possible for companies that rent electric scooters to block scooters parked in a no-parking area as they can determine the parking spots with their software. Three years ago, we had a parliamentary decision on where the scooters should be parked. Now, we will impose fines according to the law,” the official said.
Stressing the necessity to regulate e-scooters, Odabaşı mentioned: “We know that e-scooters will be used in the future all over the world. But it is necessary to regulate it within certain rules. We are ready to work with whoever wants to ensure regulation. We receive complaints from the citizens every day. We are open to all kinds of negotiation and solutions. You will see that we will confiscate scooters blocking the pavement today and tomorrow,” the official added.
Noting that the administration allocates one scooter to 200 individuals, the minister highlighted that now we have a inhabitants of 485,000, which makes about 2,475 scooters. “Recently, a scooter hit our city council member, he was admitted to the hospital for three days,” the official lamented.
