MMfE welcomes TRL study on road safety but calls for further regulatory discussions

Micromobility for Europe (MMfE) has welcomed a new TRL study on the European Commission review on the regulation on PLEVs.

The coalition believes that it is the right timing to understand the main markets and the influence of the existing legislation at EU and national levels. In this context, a representative of MMfE stated: “Our coalition is committed to understanding all kinds of trends to better service our customers. Users of our services are looking for options and we are fully aware of the importance that safety has for all of them.

“For this reason, we applaud the efforts of TRL in collecting and assessing available data on accidents involving personal mobility devices and safety aspects related to the road circulation of personal mobility. MMfE will always encourage this type of research.”

The vision of the coalition is to ultimately transform urban mobility by creating a sustainable transport ecosystem together with the cities in which they operate. To reach that goal, tailor-made regulation should support e-scooters as an alternative to car ownership.

“Regulation will be decisive for our sector and the TRL study – which focuses on market development and related road safety risks for L-category vehicles and new personal mobility devices – addresses one of the cornerstones of our business: minimum safety technical requirements,” stated Catriona Meehan, co-chair of the coalition.

“The regulatory options featured in the report represent a good basis to engage as a coalition and take the European policy debate to the next level. The regulatory options however are divergent and may imply different pathways to achieve the ultimate goal which is to ensure safety. For this reason, we still need to further analyse what it would mean and imply for implementation, enforcement, and viability for our business”.

MMfE, launched in February, comprises eight founding members – Bird, Bolt, Dott, FreeNow, Lime, Tier, Voi and Wind – who aim to contribute to the development of a coherent policy framework in Europe that will ensure micromobility solutions flourish in European cities and support the rapid transition to zero-emission urban mobility.