Children driving electric scooters too fast - over 30 parents have been charged

Recently, a father in Stenungsund was charged because his then ten-year-old son had driven an electric scooter that goes 35 kilometers per hour, as the ST newspaper was the first to report.

He is not alone.

In Sweden there is no age limit for electric scooters, but there are other restrictions. If the vehicle goes faster than 20 kilometers per hour and has an output of more than 250 watts, it is no longer classified as a bicycle, but as a motorized vehicle.

According to legal documents that DN has reviewed, at least 34 adults have been prosecuted for allowing illegal driving with electric scooters so far this year.

In most cases, these are parents who have bought models that are too fast and too powerful for children under 15 years of age. When the police have measured the vehicle's speed, in several cases it has been between 50 and 60 kilometers per hour.

The most common explanations given by the parents in questioning were that they did not know what was applicable - and that all the child's friends had the same electric scooters.

The model that the children have often been stopped with is from the Kukirin brand.

- It's the one that all children want. They are a little more stable and many go at 25 kilometers per hour. Some get up to 70 and then they can only drive in fenced areas, says Fredic Karnerfors, traffic police in Gothenburg.

He has worked for several years to raise awareness of the dangers of electric scooters and sees illegal driving as a widespread problem.

- If you were to go to a school here in the Gothenburg area, most of the electric scooters purchased outside would be illegal. Most people go 25 to 30 kilometers an hour, but there are also those who get up to 70 to 100. If you put your ten-year-old on it, it can cause such terrible injuries, he says.

Last year, seven people died and 6,624 were injured in electric scooter accidents, which is an increase of 38 percent compared to the previous year. Injuries increased the most among children and young people - almost half of those seriously injured were under the age of 25, as DN has previously written.

A recurring problem is tuned electric scooters, says Fredric Karnerfors.

- On some of them, you can make a series of different button presses, accelerate and brake to get past the speed limiter. On others, you can enter a code to make it go faster.

Of the cases that DN has looked at, 19 have led to convictions. In all cases, the defendants have been sentenced to 30 daily fines of up to SEK 18,000 and will receive a dot in the criminal record for five years.

So far, four defendants have been acquitted of crimes. These are cases where parents did not know that the speed limit could be circumvented and where the child used the electric scooter without permission.

The other cases have not been decided at the time of writing.

Fredric Karnerfors believes that parents being prosecuted is a necessary evil.

- This is a growing problem. I wish I didn't have to report any of these parents, but maybe that's what it takes to be taken seriously.

What would you say to parents in this situation?

- I have a son myself and his only wish is that he wants a quick electric kick. But I love him too much to put him through something so dangerous. You have to dare to resist and say no. It's part of upbringing.

DN has sought the company Kukirin for a comment without receiving a response.