Government hoverboard regulations: 25km/h speed limit and subject to breathalysing
Thursday, November 29, 2018 @ 11:35 PM
TRAFFIC authorities in Spain are planning new regulations covering hoverboards, or electric skateboards – including speed limits.
The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) wants to keep hoverboards as a form of transport for which a licence is not needed, unlike motorbikes and cars, but says their users will still be subject to alcohol limits and drug bans, and will be tested in the same way as drivers.
They would also be restricted to 25 kilometres per hour.
These measures have come under discussion in light of the first pedestrian death caused by a hoverboard, this week in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona province), when a 92-year-old lady walking along the pavement was mowed down by two young people riding one electric skateboard.
A rising number of incidents involving these 'vehicles' has been reported, including a recent case of a hoverboard being ridden at 70 kilometres per hour on the pavement alongside the Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona – faster than the speed limit for cars in the area.
DGT director-general Pere Navarro says local councils have been asking him to set legal regulations for hoverboards in light of their rapidly-increasing presence in cities.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com