Children with serious injuries: in Mykolaiv they began discussing the introduction of strict rules for scooters

In Mykolaiv, officials plan to tighten rules for using electric scooters after a series of accidents, including incidents involving children. The city authorities must study the experience of other Ukrainian and foreign cities and prepare proposals on age, speed and other possible restrictions. The city mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych, gave the corresponding instruction during a staff meeting on 6 July 2026. For now, this only concerns the preparation of proposals — specific new rules in the city have not yet been approved.

During the meeting, the head of the expert-public council, Valeriy Vetrov, said that the problem has become particularly acute with the start of the summer season. According to him, in just one week he witnessed 3 accidents in the area of Soborna Street, and after one of them children with serious injuries were taken away by an ambulance.

“Another problematic issue that has intensified with the summer season is the use of electric scooters, primarily by teenagers. Last Sunday I witnessed three accidents in the Soborna area. One involved serious injuries — children were taken away by an ambulance,” he said.

Valeriy Vetrov recalled that as early as 2023 the Supreme Court recognized the use of an electric-motor e-scooter as a source of increased danger. The court reached this conclusion in case №127/5920/22. The expert-public council also analyzed the experience of other countries and cities. According to Valeriy Vetrov, in Paris rental e-scooters were completely banned, in Toronto it is prohibited to ride them on roads, sidewalks and public spaces, and in Singapore as early as 2019 e-scooters were banned from sidewalks.

Restrictions are gradually being introduced in Ukrainian cities as well. In Ternopil, e-scooters were banned from moving through the central pedestrian zone, and rental operators were required to programmatically reduce speed. In Lviv it has been proposed to allow the use of rental scooters only from 16 years old, introduce mandatory helmets, limit speed on dangerous sections and designate separate parking areas.

Valeriy Vetrov proposed that the relevant departments of the Mykolaiv City Council prepare proposals for the safe use of electric scooters in Mykolaiv within 2 weeks. They should also prepare comments on draft law №3023, aimed at regulating the use of personal light electric vehicles in Ukraine.

Draft law №3023 was registered back on 6 February 2020 and approved in principle on 4 September 2020. As of 6 July 2026, the document is awaiting a second reading: on 23 June 2026 deputies were provided with a comparative table for it.

Oleksandr Senkevych agreed that the issue needs to be regulated, but drew attention to the difficulty of practically implementing some proposals, in particular the requirement for mandatory helmet use.

“I can easily imagine someone carrying a helmet and then deciding to ride a scooter. You have to leave the house in the morning and think: ‘Maybe I’ll ride a scooter today, I’ll take a helmet.’ Physically this is not easy to implement,” he said.

At the same time, the mayor cited the example of Paris, where rental e-scooter operators apply automatic speed reduction in designated areas.

“There are special zones where the scooter itself reduces speed. There are even places where it stops moving altogether. It works,” said Oleksandr Senkevych.

According to the mayor, the greatest danger is posed not by rental scooters but by private electric scooters that parents buy for their children. The city and operators cannot remotely limit their speed because they are private vehicles.

“It’s not so much the rental scooters that speed up as those sold in stores and bought by parents for their children. They cannot be limited by software because they are private vehicles. This needs to be thought through how to regulate,” he said.

Oleksandr Senkevych supported introducing a minimum age for users of rental e-scooters. He said companies could verify age directly through mobile applications.

“I support an age restriction. Service owners can verify users’ ages through the app,” he said.

Following the discussion, the mayor instructed to involve the transport department and other relevant services in preparing possible restrictions.

“Let’s prepare such an instruction, involve the transport department, because this issue really needs to be resolved,” the mayor said.

Separately, Oleksandr Senkevych emphasized parental responsibility. He noted that adults can see rental scooter payments in bank card expenses and should monitor how children use such transport.

“If a child uses a rental scooter, parents can see it from charges on the bank card. So they should also control the situation. Parents play a huge role,” said Oleksandr Senkevych.

Earlier we wrote:

• In Mykolaiv a scooter driver was jailed for the fatal hit on a woman at a zebra crossing
• Opendatabot counted: three court cases opened in Mykolaiv region due to e-scooter accidents
• Mykolaiv police search for hit-and-run suspects in two accidents: woman on a three-wheeled e-scooter and an Opel Vectra
• Scooter is not a toy: light electric vehicle drivers may be sent to courses
• Morning collision on Bohoyavlenskyi: a 73-year-old woman with injuries taken away by ambulance