New rules cap the maximum speed of scooters nationwide, but the focus on riders over drivers may not be entirely fair, says Shanghai urbanist Liu Yuanju.On Nov. 1, a revised edition of China’s safety rules for electric scooters went into effect. The regulations set mandatory requirements for e-bikes nationwide, including updated standards limiting their top speed to 25 kilometers per hour and their weight to 55 kilograms, as well as new rules like mandatory installation of the BeiDou navigation system — China’s answer to GPS.These standards are aimed at improving the overall safety performance of e-bikes and ensuring the safety of users. However, experts like the Tsinghua University-based economist Li Daokui have already expressed concern that they are too strict to reliably enforce. Take for example the 25 kilometer-per-hour speed limit: it renders bikes slower than some pedal bicycles, meaning that new e-bikes may struggle to go up hills, over pedestrian bridges, or exit underground parking garages, forcing riders to get off and push.Also affected by the standards are scooter owners who make after-market modifications — such as attaching a canopy to protect them from the rain or a quilted leg-warmer to shield them from the cold. Both modifications are forbidden by the new national standards. The requirement that all new scooters must be fitted with BeiDou navigation will also raise the cost of new scooters by 200 yuan ($27.60), potentially placing unnecessary financial burdens on riders.For my part, I think that the current standards place too great an emphasis on safety at the expense of riders. Many of the benefits of scooters go overlooked, especially as cities pivot toward cars, while safety incidents involving scooters attract sensational headlines. The ubiquity of frantic scooter-borne delivery drivers on Chinese streets has done little to help their case, resulting in more regulations.This can sometimes create new dangers, however. Despite, or perhaps because of, the rules governing scooter speed and size, a thriving industry of illegal scooter modifications has emerged, offering consumers more power and bigger batteries. (Delivery drivers don’t go fast by choice, but because their pay depends on it.) Since this market is by nature unregulated, the quality of these illegal alterations cannot be guaranteed, which leads to new safety concerns and increases the potential for fire hazards.A courier works in the rain, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 2023. Yu Xiangquan/VCG
The government has of course taken note of these issues. One of the key sections of the new national standards calls for tamper-proofing scooters, specifically batteries, controllers, and speed governors. However, this raises new problems, forcing scooter owners — who tend to be less economically well off — to bear higher costs.By contrast, the law is much more lenient on cars. In China, there is no road where it is legal to drive above 120 kilometers per hour, and yet cars are not required to limit their max speeds to that number. In addition, China has not mandated the installation of satellite-based navigation systems in cars.Part of the issue is that regulators’ skepticism toward scooters is often linked to their attitudes toward motorcycles, which China regulates strictly.In 1986, Beijing started restricting motorcycles inside its third ring road, and then in 2000 it extended the ban to its fourth ring road. Southern city Guangzhou banned all motorcycles in 2007. Other cities took a more indirect approach: In Shanghai, for example, a motorcycle license plate costs 300,000 yuan, which is three times the equivalent amount for a car.As a result, many motorcyclists have switched to scooters, which are classified as non-motorized vehicles. Buying and using a scooter does not require owners to purchase either a license plate or insurance, making scooters an affordable, accessible option for some 350 million Chinese, according to official statistics.![]()
A woman rides with a child, Kunming, Yunnan province, 2017. Li Jinhong/CNS/VCG
But that also means that, when setting rules for scooters, it is necessary to coordinate the interests of all parties — including marginalized and underprivileged groups — as much as possible. For example, flexible regulations could give scooters greater rights and allow them to travel at higher speeds, while at the same time requiring owners to buy insurance. The cost of such insurance is not that high: The annual premium for insuring a small motorcycle for 500,000 yuan is just 83 yuan. For scooters, it would likely be lower.In addition, responsibility for reducing accidents involving scooters cannot fall solely on riders. Large trucks should be required to completely stop before turning right. Meanwhile, new traffic control infrastructure could slow the turning speed of large trucks and scooters alike, increasing their turning radius and creating greater separation, thereby protecting scooter riders. So far, several cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, and Xi’an have begun piloting regulations requiring large trucks to stop when making a right turn.Speed limits for cars vary widely depending on the road. Speed limits for scooters could also be implemented according to local conditions, rather than having a one-size-fits-all nationwide product standard.But no matter what, it’s important that the needs of China’s scooter users are heard. Policymakers need to consider the preferences and opinions of busy delivery riders, ordinary people commuting hours every week to and from work, and the elderly — all of whom rely on scooters in their daily lives. Public policy should be about handing a blanket to a cold child, not pulling it away.Liu Yuanju is a research fellow at Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law.Translator: David Ball; editor: Wu Haiyun.(Header image: Scooter riders on a cold winter day in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 2018. Wang Yizhao/CNS/VCG)Download the new Sixth Tone app at the App Store or Google Play
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