Dénia sets the rules for segways and other 'personal mobility vehicles'
A BYE-LAW covering everything from taxis to segways has been drawn up in Dénia in a bid to bring order to onand off-road traffic chaos.
Bicycles, electric skateboards or hoverboards, and even rickshaws are among the so-called 'personal mobility' vehicles to be hit with new regulations over where they can and cannot be used and how much their owners will be fined if caught breaking the rules.
Starting Thursday, February 20, anyone riding a hoverboard without a helmet, riding a segway on the pavement, or riding a rickshaw without a white light in front and a red one behind, will be fined €80.
Public safety officer Javier Scotto – who is also head parish councillor in Jesús Pobre – says an awareness campaign will be launched first before fines start to apply.
This will include around 15,000 leaflets being dished out.
Scotto says the council fully supports segways, electric skateboards – and rickshaws, although they have not appeared in Dénia as yet – as modes of transport, since they are emission-free, but that some structure is needed to prevent pedestrian accidents.
Skateboards are considered 'toys' rather than 'transport', so they can be used on pavements, as can mobility scooters and electric wheelchairs.
Electric bikes, pushbikes, and electric motorcycles must stay off the pavement and only use the roads – although the first two can be used on pedestrianised streets that are at least five metres wide, and dedicated bike lanes.
All must plate.
'Personal mobility vehicles' may not go faster than 20 kilometres per hour, except segways and electric skateboards, which can travel at up to 30 kilometres per hour and the users of which must be aged at least 18 wear an approved helmet, are only allowed on cycle lanes that form part of the road, and must be ridden in single file only.
Bicycles with trailers on the back, and 'taxi bikes' – rickshaws – are limited to 45 kilometres per hour.
Anyone who is not sure and cannot find one of Dénia's 15,000 leaflets should make enquiries at the town hall about the rules for using their preferred '21st-century transport'. electric have a motorcycles registration