Rarely do I feel the need to be a grumpy old git but something has been bothering me for quite a while. Electric scooters. They are a wonderful form of personal transportation, perfect for Ibiza’s resort towns where getting from one end to the other can be a very long walk or an even longer car journey due to summer traffic.
They are relatively cheap, easy to drive, very effective and they also seem to be above the law. Every day as I drive from San Antonio to Cala de Bou there are electric scooters hurtling towards me, the wrong way down a one-way road. These scooters can go in excess of 30 km/h so it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that this is a tragic accident waiting to happen. These scenes are taking place all over the island every day.
In the scooter drivers’ defence they are taking the easiest and most direct route on badly designed roadways but it’s also the most dangerous. They are a law unto themselves but what exactly is the law? Laws are clear when it comes to cars and motorbikes but electric scooters exist in a grey area. I’m sure there are laws (helmet, hi-vis vest, insurance?) but I doubt whether the predominantly young drivers know them or indeed care especially when nobody is enforcing them.
Ibiza’s resorts, already busy with cars, motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians now have another form of transport vying for road and pavement space and without clear enforceable guidelines things are going to get very ugly very quickly.
The sales of electric scooters will increase, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg so the Island government must take swift action and set out clear rules and start enforcing them, anything less would be a serious failure to protect lives. It’s an accident waiting to happen.
English translation of letter to Periodico de Ibiza, published on 18/8/22 – link here
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 
Thoroughly agree. Driving that same route, I’ve seen people hurtling along on scooters with dogs balanced on them, briefcases, even bags of supermarket shopping. But when one petrol station we went into, was selling them for €189, you can understand why they have become so popular. Easy way to get around for residents, and for the younger tourists, cheaper than a hire car😂
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The problem isn’t the scooters it’s the authorities lack of interest in enforcing the law
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