Prague has become the latest European city to lose patience with the problems caused by rented electric scooters and has introduced a ban on the micromobility solution, set to come into force from January 2026. Authorities in the Czech capital approved the measure on Monday, 20 October 2025, in response to residents’ concerns about how scooters impact safety and accessibility in the historic city.
As well as increasing complaints about the speed at which scooters travel in shared traffic areas, opposition has grown to the way they block pavements and parking areas when users discard them carelessly, making life difficult for pedestrians and people with additional accessibility needs.
“The end of electric scooters approved!” Prague’s deputy mayor in charge of transport, Zdeněk Hřib, declared on X after the decision was confirmed. But, in fact, the move to ditch rented scooters happened in a muted way that appeared to add insult to injury – by failing to even cater to their existence. Councillors dealt with the issue by publishing a set of new rules on where electric and push bikes can be parked. Because e-scooters are not mentioned in the parking bylaws, they can no longer be used in the city.
Shared scooter rental firm Lime, one of the major suppliers in Prague, reacted with disappointment, saying it would focus on e-bike rentals going forward and noting that some cities have been able to retain scooters as a mobility option that “can work very well and serve citizens” by working through issues thanks to “constructive dialogue.”
But the scooter ban cannot have come as a surprise. Paris, France, and Madrid, Spain, have both banned their use, and other cities have limited their supply or capped the age at which riders can use them.
E-scooters were hailed as an innovative green, “last kilometre” mobility solution when they first started appearing in various cities a few years ago, but the tide of public opinion started to turn following accessibility problems and research that showed a spike in head injuries and hospitalisations, and a lack of implementation of proper safety precautions that seemed attributable to scooters.
Critics began to say that scooter rental firms, some of which are start-ups (like Lime) and have become unicorn firms reaching $1 billion quickly in funding rounds, were using the general public as a testing ground without having carried out proper due diligence. Regulators have since gradually started catching up with what was once described by some as a free-for-all market.
