China's top two cities have issued bans on electric scooters from roads amid safety concerns, despite their increasing popularity amongst Chinese, and lack of national safety standards for such vehicles.
Beijing's traffic authorities announced that, starting on Monday, electric scooters and one- and two-wheeled self-balancing scooters are forbidden on public roads. If caught, violators will face a fine of 10 yuan ($1.50).
The announcement came shortly after traffic police in Shanghai launched a campaign to get e-scooters off public roads, with police officers stopping riders for endangering traffic safety.
Government officials in Guangzhou, China's third-largest city, have also hinted at a ban on the scooters, according to media reports.
The Beijing Consumer Association told the China Daily newspaper that it has tested over 20 electric scooters from various brands and discovered that most had substandard brakes. The braking distance of some models reached up to 9.9 meters, and with only some models capable of coming to a full stop in less than 4 meters.
Sixteen of the scooters tested were capable of going faster than the maximum 20 km/h set for electronic bikes, China Daily reported.
"They [electric scooters] don't fall in the category of either motor vehicles or non-motorized ones [under Chinese law]," said Dong Dehai, a spokesman for Shanghai's Huangpu district police.
But despite safety concerns and lack of standards, electric scooters are nonetheless gaining popularity in the country. Taobao, China's biggest e-commerce website, contains several thousand sellers offering various types of e-scooters.
Many scooter owners have also expressed their intention to ignore the ban, citing the scooter's convenience.
"I live 10 kilometers away from my barbershop," Bai He, a 27-year-old hairdresser Beijing, told China Daily. "The scooter can travel 25 kilometers on one charge. It's cheap, convenient and easy to control."
Other riders have also praised the scooter's maneuverability and the ability to evade traffic.
Ding Zhilei, assistant president of Ninebot Inc, a Beijing-based manufacturer of personal electric vehicles, said his company is cooperating with the government in drafting safety standards for electric self-balancing scooters and promoting legislation.
Ninebot is now manufacturing self-balancing scooters based on national speed standards for e-bikes, he said.
China is the latest country to impose restrictions on electric scooters. The use of such vehicles is restricted in the U.S. and the U.K., while in Japan e-scooters are forbidden on main roads and can only be driven with a special license.