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The first person to be killed by an electric scooter is a 90-year-old woman from Barcelona, Spain. She was hit by one this August, but details of the incident have just now emerged in the media.
El Pais reports that the woman was in very good health prior to the crash. She had been walking in a pedestrian area on the rambla del Carme de Esplugues, in the suburb Esplugues de Llobregat, when she was hit by the electric scooter.
She fell on the pavement and hit her head. When she was rushed to the hospital, she was already in critical condition and she died from the head injury a few days later. Two men were riding the scooter and they’re both facing manslaughter charges.
The driver may have been on his phone when he rammed into the old lady, the Spanish publication notes. Sources close to the investigation note that he was using Google Maps at the time of the crash, which means he was too distracted to pay attention to where he was going. The police are using his scooter passenger as witness.
At the time of the accident, the scooter was doing 18 mph (30 kph), which is the usual maximum speed these motorized vehicles reach.
Electric scooters have long invaded already-busy Spanish cities, forcing authorities and municipalities to use whatever methods available to keep them off the sidewalks. Legally, the e-scooters are not considered vehicles, so they can only be used on pavements, bike and pedestrian areas, not on the roads.
Practically, because they can reach considerable speeds and add more chaos to the already crowded pavements, various cities have already banned them. Capital Madrid is one of them: you’re not allowed to ride an e-scooter on the pavements here. Barcelona and Valencia are yet to take this step, but they did ban self-service scooter rental companies, in a bid to keep their numbers in check.
She fell on the pavement and hit her head. When she was rushed to the hospital, she was already in critical condition and she died from the head injury a few days later. Two men were riding the scooter and they’re both facing manslaughter charges.
The driver may have been on his phone when he rammed into the old lady, the Spanish publication notes. Sources close to the investigation note that he was using Google Maps at the time of the crash, which means he was too distracted to pay attention to where he was going. The police are using his scooter passenger as witness.
At the time of the accident, the scooter was doing 18 mph (30 kph), which is the usual maximum speed these motorized vehicles reach.
Electric scooters have long invaded already-busy Spanish cities, forcing authorities and municipalities to use whatever methods available to keep them off the sidewalks. Legally, the e-scooters are not considered vehicles, so they can only be used on pavements, bike and pedestrian areas, not on the roads.
Practically, because they can reach considerable speeds and add more chaos to the already crowded pavements, various cities have already banned them. Capital Madrid is one of them: you’re not allowed to ride an e-scooter on the pavements here. Barcelona and Valencia are yet to take this step, but they did ban self-service scooter rental companies, in a bid to keep their numbers in check.
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