E-scooters had to fix travel in Rome. Then they became a big problem

Rome (CNN) — Rome, the Eternal City, has been invaded, conquered and looted countless times since its founding nearly 2,800 years ago. Each attack has left scars throughout the city, from the ruins of the Roman Forum to the cavern of the Circus Maximus where chariots once ran.

The current invasion of the Italian capital comes from e-scooters – more than 14,000 of them – modern chariots blocking sidewalks, scaring and killing drivers.

Since rental scooters were introduced three years ago as an alternative to public transport during the Covid pandemic, four people have died while driving, according to Eugenio Patane, City Hall councilor for mobility. The city’s emergency departments treat at least one scooter-related serious injury every three days, health authorities say.

And yet only 2% (about 270) of scooters for rent are used daily.

Rome City Hall has issued permits to seven companies responsible for replacing batteries, making repairs, moving scooters into high-traffic areas and fishing from the city’s River Tiber.

It is the scooters that are not in use that present the greatest challenge, especially for the disabled.

‘A series of fears’

Officials say only 2% of Rome’s 14,000 rental scooters are in use.

Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto/Getty Images

As Giuliano Frittelli, head of the Italian Union for the Blind and Visually Impaired, navigates with his cane through half a dozen scooters parked on the sidewalk outside his city center office, he tells CNN that for people who can’t see, they are a deadly fall.

“The first problem is wild parking,” Frittelli says as he taps the base of a scooter with his cane, explaining that their unusual shape also makes it easy for someone with low vision to trip over them.

He also says that because they are electric, they are silent, which is also a threat to those who can’t see.

“You don’t hear them, so you can’t navigate around them,” says Frittelli, recalling an incident where a scooter passed a blind person so close that their startled guide dog jumped off the sidewalk, in what he called “a series of fears” . Fortunately, that didn’t end in bodily harm.

Frittelli’s group is working with Rome City Hall to mandate that scooters be parked only in designated stalls. He also wants them adjusted to produce a noise level of at least 30 decibels so it can serve as a warning of their approach.

He says it’s not just people with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, who struggle to get onto the streets when the sidewalks are cluttered with scooters. The elderly and parents pushing strollers are also affected.

Giuliano Frittelli, left, wants scooters to be mandatory parked in designated places.

CNN

Traffic Councilor Eugenio Patanè of Rome City Hall agrees. He tells CNN that from January 1, 2023, the city will renew the license for just 9,000 scooters and reduce the number of companies that can rent them to three.

He says the city also plans to place a percentage of its scooters in the suburbs and other areas so that ordinary citizens can use them for what he calls “the last mile,” taking them from a subway stop to their or her own home. let them do quick errands without jumping in a car.

“They are a danger to the people, but they are also a problem for the city, for the beauty of the city,” says Patanè. “The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and very vulnerable and we have to take care of that.”

Assosharing, Italy’s shared mobility trade association, said in a statement that accidents involving e-scooters were rare – 44 for every 10,000 scooters – with serious incidents largely limited to privately owned equipment.

“The alarming notes are essentially disconnected from reality,” the statement said. “First of all, it must be made clear that the use of vehicles in Rome is in line with other European capitals.”

The organization said Rome’s experiences were similar to those of other major European cities, although Italy lagged behind in implementing legislation that would allow e-scooters to become an important part of transport solutions.

“Assosharing emphasizes the need to increase the number of scooter parking spaces in Rome and to activate new cycle paths, in line with the standards of the main European capitals,” it said.

Ignore the rules

A tourist recently threw a scooter off the Spanish Steps.

Rome Metropolitan Police

In early June, two Americans were fined about $800 for throwing rental scooters off the Spanish Steps, causing about $26,000 in damage to the fragile marble. The incident was captured on security cameras and by passersby who saw one of the tourists throw the heavy metal scooter, capturing the sound of crashing on the stairs.

The e-scooters are mainly used by tourists and young people, says Patanè.

And the rules are often ignored, especially those that prohibit use on sidewalks and restrict riders to one person. Tenants are also assumed to be 18 years old. And the city can’t oblige the rental companies to provide helmets, meaning very few people wear them.

Police checks are rare and fines are rare for scooter users who break the ground rules because it is difficult to enforce the off-sidewalk rule when the scooters are generally parked on the sidewalks.

However, they seem to be a hit with tourists. “To drive around, especially in the historic downtown area where it’s almost impossible in a car, this is it,” Walter Hughes, of Dallas, Texas, told CNN.

“Therefore [two- or three-mile radius] that you drive around fast, you can’t find a parking space for a car, it’s too hot to walk for five hours, so this is it.”

Not everyone agrees.

Taxi drivers, who for years have had to squeeze between pedestrians and mopeds, say e-scooters are a much bigger problem.

Eduardo Conticello has had many near misses with his taxi and would like to see scooters abolished completely.

He tells CNN that they often stop or fall over for him. “When I see them, I drive very, very slowly,” he explains, adding time to his travels, meaning his passengers pay more for them. “They are very dangerous.”

But life in the Eternal City has never been particularly easy in its 2,800 years. Rome was not built in a day, as they say. And his problems won’t be solved in one either.

This story has been updated with a statement from the Italian Association of Shared Mobility Assosharing