Cyprus is moving towards banning the use of electric scooters by anyone under 17, but lawmakers are warning the legislation will be undermined if e-bikes are left out — with some of those devices reaching speeds more associated with motorcycles than bicycles.
The issue was debated at the Parliamentary Transport Committee, where MP Fotini Tsiridou, who tabled the bill, argued that regulating scooters alone would simply push young riders towards e-bikes.
“If we leave e-bikes behind, they will mock us,” she said. Restricting scooters without addressing e-bikes was effectively telling prospective buyers to purchase the latter instead, she added.
Under current law, scooter use is permitted from the age of 14. Tsiridou’s bill would raise that to 17 for both riders and any passengers they carry.
She said the 17-year threshold made sense because it aligned with the age at which young people become eligible for a learner driving licence and, with it, knowledge of the transport code.
The committee also heard that traders are currently selling scooters to teenagers of all ages, with parents occasionally stepping in to facilitate purchases when a seller questions a buyer’s age.
An Ecologists proposal to set the limit at 16 — backed by the Road Transport Department on the basis of other countries’ experience — does not appear to be progressing.
A Transport Ministry representative told the committee that the European Transport Council also recommended 16 as the appropriate age, and that some countries permit use from as young as 12, though the ministry raised no objection to the House setting the limit at 17.
On e-bikes, the ministry representative was unambiguous. Devices reaching speeds of 50 to 60 kilometres per hour were not e-bikes in any meaningful legal sense, he said. Those exceeding 25 kilometres per hour were “entirely illegal” and “should be seized and withdrawn from the market.” A separate bill to address the outstanding regulatory gaps around such devices is being prepared, he added.