Electric scooters, unicycles, segways… names that are new to us. They are Personal Mobility Vehicles (VMP) and have been part of our urban landscape for just a few years. The advantages of these vehicles are numerous: they are cheap, light, hardly pollute and, furthermore, they do not need insurance or permits to be able to circulate in our cities.
In fact, 72% of the citizens of our country affirm that they have changed the way they move. However, the lack of experience of many users and the absence of uniform regulations have sown chaos on our roads and sidewalks. And it’s not just a question of mobility.
In 2020, eight personal mobility vehicle users died, 97 were hospitalized injured and 1,097 were non-hospitalized injured.
In addition, the circulation of these vehicles is prohibited on crossroads, interurban roads, motorways, dual carriageways and urban tunnels. The manual published in the BOE in January of this year includes the required technical characteristics, the classification of this type of vehicle and the tests to which they must be subjected to verify said characteristics.
For this reason, Cope Valencia, together with the Generalitat Valenciana and the Chair of Transport and Society of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), hold a conference where all the pros and cons of the VMP will be discussed. It will be during the morning of Friday, June 10, within the celebration of World Road Safety Day.
Simultaneously, AVAE will launch its “overturn simulator” for all attendees, and the company Metalesa will present advances in the protection of the vulnerable. The Professor of Highways of the UPV, eminence in the field of road safety, will close.
The conference ‘New mobility, new city’ will be held at the School of Civil Engineering of the UPV (Building 4H), and will be face-to-face, with free confirmation by email at luzdecruce@cope.es.
The inauguration of the day will be carried out by Roser Obrer, General Director of Public Works, Transport and Sustainable Mobility; Débora Domingo, vice-rector for Sustainable Development of the UPV Campuses and Sergio Peláez, Regional Director of Cope CV.
