New rules for e-scooter users in Paris and surrounding areas

Users of certain motorised vehicles such as electric scooters must wear appropriate safety gear when traveling in and around Paris, following a new police order. 

The order has been issued “in light of the worrying rise in serious and fatal accidents involving motorised personal mobility devices (engins de déplacement personnel motorisés, EDPM),” said the Préfecture de Police on August 8.

Around 1,100 e-scooter users were seriously injured in 2025 (up 33% on 2024), according to the road accident statistics report from the French Road Safety Observatory.

Rules state that users must now wear an appropriate helmet, or else face a fixed penalty of €135. 

A high-visibility vest or reflective equipment must also be worn otherwise users face a €35 fine.

As well as the existing Code de la route (French road safety) rules, the new order applies to all EDPM users on public roads and cycle lanes in Paris and in the neighbouring departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne.

The term EDPM includes electric scooters, Segways, self balancing unicycles, and hoverboards, which have grown in popularity as practical and often portable means of transport especially in built-up areas. 

Despite their practicality, the Préfecture de Police says users remain vulnerable due to the vehicles’ lack of protection, their speed (which should not exceed 25km/h), and their low visibility, particularly at night. 

“Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Minister Delegate to the Interior, has tasked the Délégation à la sécurité routière with examining the possibility of standardising helmet requirements for EDPM users across the country. As yet, no timetable has been announced,” the delegation’s press office told The Connexion. 

Similar rules in place in several cities

Paris is not the first area in France to bring in these reinforced rules, which have already applied in the Alpes-Maritimes department since April 15. 

EDPM users throughout the department must wear an appropriate helmet at all times and must also put on a reflective vest at night or in low-visibility conditions. 

Other towns and cities have already taken measures to ban EDPMs. 

Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) has banned the use of these vehicles from several streets in the town on a trial basis from May-September 30 this year. 

Dijon (Côte-d'Or) and Besançon (Doubs) have also banned the scooters in certain streets in the town centres – in May and September 2025 respectively.

Carcassonne (Aude) issued a municipal decree in 2024 banning the use of e-scooters on pedestrianised streets and squares in the city centre and reduced the speed limit to 10km/h.

Albi (Tarn) also sought to tighten rules on the scooters late last year, and gave police greater authority to intervene in case of anti-social or dangerous behaviour from riders.

Unlike mopeds and motorbikes, it is not currently a legal requirement for EDPM users to have a driving licence and so these vehicles do not have numberplates, although several proposed laws have suggested introducing an identification system for them. 

One such proposal, presented in 2025, planned to create a way of identifying each unique EDPM via methods such as QR codes or micro-chips, which would be linked to a national register. 

These would then help to identify users who do not respect the road safety rules.