After the vote against rental scooters in Paris, police officers speak out for stricter rules in Germany. "From our point of view, effective possibilities for more security must be examined, including higher fines, intensified instruction or an alcohol ban," said the vice chairman of the police union (GdP), Michael Mertens, the editorial network Germany on Tuesday. The rental companies would have to contribute to more road safety.

One problem is the high speed of the scooters: "E-scooters are too fast," he warned. At 20 kilometers per hour, an accident could have "serious consequences". "A partial success would be to reduce the speed of the scooters to 15 km/h in principle," says Mertens. The problems were also similar nationwide. "The points of criticism are almost the same everywhere: the parking and parking situation on the one hand and the feeling of freedom on the scooters, which can lead to a lack of care for road safety issues," said Mertens.

Responsibility lies with the Länder

However, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Transport referred to the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post" on the responsibility of the states: "Whether and where e-scooters, which are offered for rent regardless of location, may be parked in public space, is the sole competence of the federal states." The competent authorities of the federal states are entitled to allow landlords to offer sharing small electric vehicles only under certain conditions. These could be, for example, designated parking areas.

In a citizen survey in Paris on Sunday, a majority of 89 percent voted against rental scooters. The city wants to ban the rental of e-scooters in September.

The German Association of Cities spoke out on Monday against a ban, but for "clear rules". The countries should "give all cities the opportunity to require a special use permit for e-scooters in public spaces," said Deputy Managing Director Verena Göppert. Then the cities could choose which providers are allowed to rent their scooters according to which rules.

In addition, the federal government is asked to adapt the road traffic regulations and the ordinance for small electric vehicles, because it must be clear "where and how many scooters can be parked". By allowing so-called geofencing, the speed of scooters in areas such as pedestrian zones would also be automatically reduced.