A 17,000 hryvnia fine was the amount that a resident of Ivano-Frankivsk faced for riding an electric scooter while intoxicated. But the man convinced the court that he was not driving in the legal sense of the word and won the case.
A 17,000 hryvnia fine was the amount that a resident of Ivano-Frankivsk faced for riding an electric scooter while intoxicated. But the man convinced the court that he was not driving in the legal sense of the word and won the case.
The case was considered by the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court. As reported by Zaxid, the incident occurred on March 18 on Ploscha Rynok Street. The police stopped a man on a Bolt electric scooter and recorded signs of intoxication. A medical examination confirmed alcohol in the blood, after which the patrol officers drew up a report under Part 1 of Article 130 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
This article provides for a fine of 17 thousand hryvnias and deprivation of the right to drive. But in court, the lawyer explained: the electric scooter that his client used is not a vehicle according to the current traffic rules. The ruling states that the case materials do not contain any identification signs of the scooter, but the lawyer suggested that it was a model similar to the Kugoo M4 with an electric motor with a power of only 0.5 kW.
Judge Innesa Bolyuk agreed: according to the rules of the road, vehicles are considered, in particular, cars and electric vehicles with a power of more than 3 kW. Therefore, the accused is not a driver of a vehicle within the meaning of the law, and the case does not fall under Art. 130.
The case was closed on May 15 due to lack of evidence of an offense. The ruling can still be appealed.
Yes. Despite the fact that there is still no separate law on electric scooters in Ukraine, judicial practice has already been formed. In decisions of various courts, in particular the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Zaporizhia (case No. 336/7734/20), an electric scooter is recognized as a vehicle in accordance with clause 1.10 of the Road Traffic Rules.
This means that electric scooter drivers are full participants in road traffic and are responsible for its violations:
Scooters are also prohibited from riding on sidewalks if they have an electric motor with a power of more than 0.5 kW.
We previously wrote about Daniel Tonkopi, CEO of Ukrainian electric bike manufacturer Delfast. He stated that the micromobility boom is over and explained why electric scooters are losing popularity.
