First electric scooter death in Paris as controversy rages

PARIS: A man died in Paris after his electric scooter collided with a lorry, sources said on Tuesday, the first such fatality involving the increasingly-popular devices in the French capital as concern grows over their safety.

The 25-year-old was riding the scooter in the bustling Goutte d’Or neighbourhood in the north of the city when the accident happened late on Monday. He was rushed to hospital where he died of his injuries, the Paris emergency services said. The lorry driver has been detained with prosecutors opening an investigation into "involuntary homicide".

A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, said the lorry driver had priority on the road at the time. It was the first deadly accident involving an electric scooter within the city limits, police and the mayor’s office confirmed.

According to press reports, an 81-year-old man died in April in Levallois-Perret outside Paris, days after being knocked over by an electric scooter. Just a year after they first appeared on the Paris streets, mushrooming electric scooters have become a gigantic headache for the Paris authorities who are now rushing to implement some kind of framework for their use. Monday’s deadly accident has "underlined the need to emphasise the elementary rules that users must respect," deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told AFP.

"The police need to act to penalise users who, for example, cross a red light," he said. Mayor Anne Hidalgo had on Thursday announced a ban on parking electric scooters on the pavement and said their speed on roads should be limited to 20 kilometres per hour.