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Police hand out fines to cyclists riding too fast in pedestrian zone

17:02 09/09/2021

Brussels police handed out 48 fines in the pedestrian zone this week during a day-long campaign to remind drivers of motorised vehicles that they are not allowed in the zone.

But only about half of those fine of €174 went to cars and lorries; the other half went to cyclists and users of scooters who were riding too fast. “Everyone needs to feel safe getting around the city,” said David Stevens, head of the cycle brigade in the Brussels-Ixelles police zone. “Cyclists and people using scooters in the pedestrian zone seem to have taken over the mentality that motorists once had. That’s not OK. Anyone who rides too fast risks getting a ticket.”

The speed limit in the pedestrian zone is officially six kilometres an hour, though the police were pretty lenient, generally handing out tickets only to users of electric vehicles who were clearly going faster than circumstances would deem safe. “We really rely on everyone using common sense,” said Stevens.

Park your Felyx right

In related news, users of the Felyx scooter share scheme are now required to take a photograph of where they have parked their scooter to ensure that it is properly parked. Electric scooters need to be parked out of the way of both cars and pedestrians.

The photos must take in enough of the surrounding area to make it clear that it is properly parked. If not, the user will be slapped with a fine of €50. On the other hand, those who consistently park properly will get free minutes on their account.

“A pilot project in Eindhoven has been a great success,” said the Dutch company in a statement. “In six weeks, complaints about parking nuisance dropped by 90%.” Felyx also said that it would soon launch a system that used artificial intelligence to automatically recognised improperly parked e-scooters.

Photo ©Werner Leroy/Shutterstock

  

Written by Lisa Bradshaw