Lax laws, piecemeal enforcement making motorized kickboards a serious street hazard

Electric kickboards -- also referred to as electric scooters, electric kickscooters and e-bikes -- first began making their appearance on Japan's streets from around 2017. They are now leased by such companies as Luup, mobby ride, mymerit and wind mobility Japan. Since August, two foreign companies, Lime and Bird, have newly joined the fray. 

After payment of a 100 yen unlocking fee, leasing charges for a kickboard run around 10 yen per minute. For those desiring to own one, models can be purchased outright for between 100,000 to 300,000 yen. 

Over the past half decade this new mode of transportation has already become big business. The National Police Agency (NPA) estimates the current annual market for shared-usage kickboards at 1 trillion yen. 

Weekly Playboy (Nov 4) reports that with revisions in the Road Traffic Law from July 2023, kickboards may be operated on public streets by individuals age 16 and above without a driving permit. They are restricted to a maximum speed of 20 kmh on the streets, and if the speed is kept to 6 kmh or less (as indicated by a blinking indicator lamp), they may be ridden on bicycle lanes or places shared with pedestrian traffic. 

Helmets are recommended but like bicycles, riders incur no penalty for not wearing one, and the NPA believes about 90% of kickboard riders refrain from so doing.  

Kickboard riders can nonetheless be cited for traffic violations, and according to the NPA, more than 25,000 cases were cited by police for traffic violations over the one-year period between July 2023 and August 2024. 

Broken down by type of citation, 18,954 cases or 57% were for moving violations as cited by the traffic division; 9,511 or 28% were failures to stop for a red light; 1,977 or 6% were failures to come to a full halt at a stop sign or railway crossing; 752 or 2% were obstructing pedestrians; and 2,304 or 7% were other violations, including operation while under the influence of alcohol. 

Weekly Playboy dispatched a reporter to drinking areas in Shinjuku and Shibuya and indeed spotted kickboards a-plenty, zipping up and down the streets, in some cases with people riding two-up -- which is also illegal. Other riders could be seen poking at their smartphone screens while in motion. Some were observed buzzing pedestrians on sidewalks at speeds that appeared well in excess of 6 kmh. 

What is particularly aggravating is the way the law presently stands, when accidents between cars and kickboards occur, the law -- just as it does for pedestrians -- generally favors the kickboard rider. 

And needless to say, kickboard design doesn't exactly prioritize rider safety.  

"First of all, electric kickboards are a conveyance with extremely low maneuver stability, even less than bicycles," automobile critic Mitsuhiro Kunisawa tells the magazine. "All it takes is the slightest mistake for them to tip over. Automobile drivers should keep this in mind and be on their guard accordingly. As a means of self-protection, automobile drivers would be well advised to install driver recorders on their vehicles. 

"Lots of visitors from overseas have been using them," Kunisawa added. "Some have been injured in accidents, and unable to return home in that condition." 

Photographer Keigo Yamamoto said he had observed kickboards in abundance on the streets in Europe three or four years ago. 

"I never saw anybody wearing a helmet," he relates. "Many people ride them two-up, or in a reckless manner. Once right in front of me I saw a rider trying to go over a step and the front wheel got snagged, causing it to flip over backwards. Those tiny wheels are just no good for going over steps."  

A growing number of cities, including Paris and Melbourne, Australia, are said to have banned kickboards from their streets, while Japan on the other hand is just on the cusp of widespread usage. 

In accident test simulations conducted by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), a motorized kickboard with a dummy rider moving at 20 kmh collided head-on with a passenger car. The dummy was propelled forward and after colliding head-first with the windshield was thrown on its back, with its head striking the road surface. Since no protection was worn, a skull fracture and brain injury were seen as likely outcomes, with a high risk of death. At the very least therefore, head protection is strongly advisable. 

That said, electric kickboards aren't the only new hazard on Japan's streets these days. Another recent phenomenon are mopeds, motorized bicycles with pedals and electric motors. While these require an operator's license and registration to be driven on the roads, abuses are said to abound, from buzzing pedestrians to drunk driving. The authorities, Weekly Playboy's writer concludes, need to crack down on them, and soon!

© Japan Today