Crackdown on mini-scooters

A Balearic local council has become the first to introduce rules and regulations controlling the use of mini-scooters in Spain. Mini-scooters have become the latest craze to have swept the globe and in the wake of Christmas and Three Kings, with the number one present on the majority of children's lists being a mini-scooter, Ferreries council in Minorca has decided to take action to reduce the town centre havoc caused by miniscooter riders. The new set of traffic rules for mini-scooter riders has been devised by the Local Police, and the municipality's local schools and youth clubs are to receive the new regulations. The Local Police have decided to introduce some forms of control in order to “establish a mutual respect between pedestrians and mini-scooter riders.” Local councillor Josep LLuis Torres said that he, and the council, hopes that the new regulations will “help to strengthen public access rules and regulations and also work towards enabling the local communities to live happily together, one of the council's main objectives.” The Local Police said that the measures have been adopted in response to calls from a local teacher for some form of action to be taken “which is not oppressive.” The regulations are also being adopted to increase the safety of mini-scooter riders - which is why miniscooters are to be banned from roads. They can be ridden on the pavements, but riders must keep their distance from fellow pedestrians and the same regulations will apply to rollerbladers. The police have also banned mini-scooters riders from being towed by vehicles, which is extremely dangerous. The police also want to prohibit mini-scooter riders from crossing roads in front of oncoming vehicles or from shooting out into roads from the back of parked vehicles. In the UK a number of local councils have already taken action to increase safety for miniscooter riders, two have been killed in recent months, one after he shot out from behind parked cars into the path of a taxi. In Slough a 10-year-old girl had her finger sliced off in an accident and the lightweight mini-scooters have caused controversy in the UK since they became the “must have toy” last summer. The action taken by Ferreries council is expected to set a precedent for the rest of the Balearics, especially on Sunday morning when the Paseo Maritimo becomes a motorway for mini-scooters unsure of whether they classify as cyclists for the cycle lane or should dodge the pedestrians and traffic.