In Ukraine, it will be prohibited to ride an electric scooter with a phone in hand – the state introduces rules

For the first time in Ukraine, rules for the use of electric scooters and other light personal transport are being prepared for regulation. As the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" has already reported, the relevant committee recommended the adoption of bill No. 3023.

This concerns electric scooters, unicycles, and other light electric means of transportation, which thousands of Ukrainians use daily in cities.

The preparation of legislative regulation for the use of electric scooters and other light personal transport was announced by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko.

In particular, the bill provides that movement will be allowed on bicycle paths and bike lanes, and in their absence – along the right edge of the roadway or the shoulder. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be prohibited, as well as using a phone while moving. Additionally, drivers will be required to use lighting and reflective elements during dark hours.

Although the document does not introduce a separate category of driver's licenses for users of electric scooters and similar transport, it will define users of such transport as full participants in road traffic and establish uniform rules for them.

Separately, the bill establishes a mechanism of responsibility for violations of the rules and defines the distribution of liability between users and rental services.

If adopted by the parliament, this will become the first comprehensive legal regulation of personal electric transport in Ukraine.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, in the first five months of 2026, the number of road traffic accidents involving such transport increased by 66.8%. As a result of accidents, people, including children, die and are injured.

The most accidents caused by electric scooter drivers were registered in the Odesa region – 11 in 2025 and 12 in the first five months of the current year. Next are Lviv region (11 and 5 cases respectively) and Vinnytsia region (5 and 4). The top five also include Volyn region (5 and 3 cases) and Kyiv region (7 and 1 case).

Typical cases include collisions with cars, hitting pedestrians, and fleeing the scene of an accident. For example, in Lviv, a user of a rented JET scooter damaged two parked cars – an Audi and a Mazda – and fled the scene. The court fined him 3,400 UAH.

In Dnipro, for example, a Magura electric scooter driver ran a red light and hit a boy at a pedestrian crossing. In court, the man explained that the brakes of the scooter failed in winter. Ultimately, the court fined him only 850 UAH.

International experience

Note that in Poland, children under 13 years old are prohibited from riding electric scooters and other personal transport on roads. An exception is movement in residential areas under adult supervision.

Also, persons under 16 years old are required to wear protective helmets when riding bicycles, electric scooters, electric bicycles, and other personal transport.

The first fine was issued just a few hours after the new rules came into force. The fine was given to the mother of a 14-year-old teenager who rode an electric scooter without a helmet.

The Judicial and Legal Newspaper has repeatedly covered problems related to the lack of special legal regulation of this type of transport, which became a stimulus for petitions, discussions, and ultimately normative regulation of the issue.

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