European tourist hotspot bans rental e-scooters after ‘chaos on sidewalks’

The British stag holiday favourite becomes the latest European country to outlaw electric scooter rentals

Prague is set to outlaw electric scooter rentals from January 2026, following criticism from the Czech capital's deputy mayor who described the popular tourist transport as causing "chaos on sidewalks."

City councillors formally approved a significant overhaul of shared transport regulations on Monday. This decision impacts a city of nearly 1.4 million residents, whose historic cobblestoned streets drew over 8 million tourists in 2024.

While new rules will be introduced for the parking of both pedal and electric bicycles, the new regulations will conspicuously omit any provision for e-scooters, effectively signalling the end of shared electric scooter services within the city.

Zdenek Hrib, the national Pirate party chairman and deputy mayor for transport at Prague's city hall, confirmed the move on X, declaring: "The end of electric scooters approved!"

"We are introducing clear rules that will clear public space from uncontrolled scooter traffic, which was often used in the city centre more as a tourist attraction than a means of transport and caused chaos on sidewalks and in pedestrian zones."

Prague said e-scooters had higher accident rates than bikes. (Getty Images)

Prague joins other popular European tourist destinations in cracking down on e-scooters in recent years. Cities have imposed strict safety rules, such as helmets and insurance in Italy, or banned rentals altogether, as in Paris and Madrid. Finland has barred under-15s from using them.

Prague officials said they acted on complaints from residents over the dangers of the scooters whizzing by on sidewalks or parks, or blocking sidewalks or street parking spots when not in use.

The city, which wants to promote wider use of shared bike services, said e-scooters had higher accident rates than bikes.

Lime, one of the biggest operators of shared e-scooters in the city, said it regretted the decision.

In cities where there is "constructive dialogue" with operators, "scooters can work very well and serve citizens", Czech news agency CTK quoted Lime's country director Vaclav Petr as saying.

Lime did not immediately reply to further questions.