MPs seek legal footing for e-scooter age limit

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Children under 16 who ride electric scooters on Bahrain’s public roads would be treated as unlicensed drivers under a move to write a scooter age limit into the Traffic Law.

The change would name electric scooters in the Traffic Law for the first time, ban under-16s from riding them on public roads and give the Interior Minister power to fix speed limits, riding areas, safety rules and permit terms.

MPs Khalid BuAnaq, Hisham Al Awadhi, Zainab Abdulameer and Ahmed Al Salloom are seeking the change after crashes that have caused deaths and serious injuries, with children and pedestrians among those at risk.

Current law does not give electric scooters their own definition or age limit.

Traffic Law 23 of 2014 instead covers motorised cycles in general terms and usually puts the minimum age for a driving licence at 18, while allowing the minister to exempt some types of motorised cycles from the usual licence rules.

The MPs want scooters named in the Traffic Law and under-16s barred from riding them on public roads.

Anyone younger caught riding one would be treated as driving without a valid licence for the scooter.

Driving a motor vehicle without the right licence can bring up to six months in jail and a BD100 to BD500 fine, or either penalty.

The Traffic Law also lets a court delay the issue of a licence to someone caught driving before reaching the minimum licensing age.

The delay can run for up to six months after that person reaches the required age and can be longer in repeat cases.

The MPs say children lack the road sense and experience needed to ride safely among cars and other traffic.

Scooters also give riders little protection in a crash.

Their small size can leave users open to being struck by cars or thrown on to the road, according to the bill’s explanatory note.

Pedestrians can also be hit by scooters ridden on pavements, in housing areas and at leisure sites, with children and older people at particular risk.

The bill would let the minister say where scooters can be ridden and how fast they can go.

It would also allow rules on safety and permits.

Under the proposed definition, an electric scooter would be a vehicle with one, two or several wheels powered by electricity, by a mix of electric power and the rider’s own force, or by another mechanical means.

It would cover scooters ridden while standing, or in a similar position, which carry people and are smaller and less powerful than electric bicycles.

They would be classed as motorised cycles under the Traffic Law.

The MPs say growing scooter use and serious crashes show why the law needs changing.

They also cite the UAE’s Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2024, which treats electric scooters as personal mobility devices alongside electric bicycles, bicycles, skateboards and mobility aids for older people and people with disabilities.

Rules on speed, permits, riding areas and safety would be left to ministerial decisions.