eScooters causing untold trouble for blind people, experts warn

In Germany, where electric scooters are banned from use on pavements but can be parked there when not in use, an association for the blind has warned that there is the risk of people stumbling over a poorly parked electric scooter is significantly greater for blind people. — dpa

Electric scooters have suddenly popped up in cities around the world – bringing with them a host of new problems.

From San Francisco to Paris, the scooters have been found parked in all sorts of places – the middle of pavements, dumped in rivers and even hung from trees.

In Germany, where they are banned from use on pavements but can be parked on them when not in use, an association for the blind has warned that the risk of people stumbling over a poorly parked electric scooter is significantly greater for blind people.

Complaints to the association have been piling up since the launch of electric scooters in Germany, said Heiko Kunert, head of the Hamburg Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired.

"Electric scooters that block pavements can become a danger for blind and visually impaired people and make orientation more difficult for us," Kunert said on Twitter.

The growing number of scooters on city paths might not just be tripping up the visually impaired, however – the latest mobility trend can affect all sorts of people walking on the street.

In an interview with Vice, Kunert said: "On the one hand, these are visually impaired people like me, of course. But these are also people who look at their smartphones or listen to music loudly. Or daydreaming children."

Kunert said he "would like to see more consideration from the electric scooter riders for those who can't hear or see them". – dpa