Gelsenkirchen takes action: E-scooter are banned from Saturday

If you want to rent an e-scooter in Gelsenkirchen from Saturday, April 20, 2024, you might not find one. After all, the city in North Rhine-Westphalia is the first municipality in Germany to ban electric two-wheelers.

Gelsenkirchen calls on Bolt and Tier to evacuate

You either hate them or you love them – e-scooter. Even regular users cannot deny that the all-electric two-wheelers have their downsides. First and foremost, scooter renters often leave their e-scooter in the middle of sidewalks. In some places, there are even mountains of stacked e-scooter.

However, the city of Gelsenkirchen has a completely different reason for not renewing the contract with providers Bolt and Tier, which expired in March 2024. The municipality has recorded many administrative offenses committed by the drivers of the rental scooters. Unfortunately, the authorities are often unable to impose a subsequent penalty due to the anonymity of the users.

Accordingly, Gelsenkirchen has asked the two e-scooter rental companies to register users as part of an identity check before each ride. This would make prosecution much easier. As both Bolt and Tier refused to comply with this request, the city has now pulled the ripcord and called for the scooters to be removed from public spaces.

Private e-scooter not affected

Naturally, Bolt and Tier are anything but pleased with the decision. Accordingly, according to a report in the Rheinische Post, the city and the two companies have entered into a heated legal dispute. Two worlds are apparently colliding. The city is demanding an identity check in order to guarantee safety and order in road traffic.

Martin Schulmann, spokesman for the city of Gelsenkirchen, says that the use of e-scooter is increasingly leading to abusive behavior. It is not uncommon for renters to drive through pedestrian zones or along sidewalks. Some serious accidents have been the result in the past. The two landlords, on the other hand, insist that e-scooter pose no risk at all in road traffic.

Incidentally, the ban will have no consequences for users of private e-scooters. In fact, the ban is likely to boost scooter sales in Gelsenkirchen. However, these drivers are not a thorn in the city’s side either. After all, it is mandatory to apply for a license for your own e-scooter. In the event of misconduct on the scooter, penalties can be enforced quickly and easily.

• More on the topic: E-scooters are banned from public transport in NRW

Will the ban still be overturned?

Now landlords have to remove all their scooters from the city. But Tier and Bolt have good reason to be confident. The ban applies for the time being without any main proceedings having taken place in the legal dispute. This is possible because Gelsenkirchen enforced the ban in the course of summary proceedings. However, as experience has shown that the main proceedings will take several months and have not even started yet, the e-scooter of the two providers are banned from Gelsenkirchen for the time being.