#1 of the images Rising Illegal Electric Scooter Acts: Signal Jumping and Double Riding | FRIDAY DIGITAL

At the intersection of a major street late at night, the signal is red. After confirming that there are no following cars behind the taxi crossing, the driver ignores the signal and turns left. I get nervous every time I see an electric kickboard. “There is a one-way slope near my house, and when I was driving my car there, I suddenly came across an electric kickboard at the top of the hill. I had to slam on the brakes. The rider was speeding the wrong way, right down the center of the road from the exit of the one-way street. I narrowly avoided a head-on collision, but if we had collided, I might have ended up being the one at fault. Since then, I get nervous every time I see an electric kickboard while driving.” This terrifying experience shared by Company employee A, who lives in Tokyo, is one that many drivers can probably relate to. From July 2023 to June 2024, traffic violations by electric kickboard users reached a staggering 25,000 cases. During the same period, there were 219 reported traffic accidents involving injuries, a significant increase from 41 cases in 2022. In December 2023, a tragic accident occurred when a woman in her 30s entered an intersection on a red light and collided with a bus, resulting in her death. FRIDAY has also repeatedly witnessed violations such as riding with two people and running red lights. The sharp increase in traffic violations and accidents is attributed to the rapid rise in users. Freelance writer Aki Hashimoto explains: “In April 2021, electric kickboard sharing services were launched in Tokyo, Osaka, and other areas as part of a pilot program. The maximum speed was set at 15 km/h, and only those with a driver’s license were allowed to ride. However, in July 2023, the Road Traffic Act was amended, and a new category called ‘Specific Small Motorized Bicycles’ was created. Under the new law, anyone 16 years or older could ride electric kickboards with a maximum speed of 20 km/h without a license. This legal change led to rapid growth, and by August 2023, the number of rental and return points for the industry leader ‘LUUP’ surged from 4,000 to over 10,000 in just one year.”

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Rising Illegal Electric Scooter Acts: Signal Jumping and Double Riding

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