Israel is set to mandate licence plates for every e-scooter and e-bike in the country. According to the Jerusalem Post, the licence plates will be ‘personal to the rider’, rather than the e-scooter or e-bike. Registration will be possible in the name of an individual rider aged 16 or older, or in the name of a company.
The report says that if an owner sells or decommissions their vehicle, they will be obligated to report it to the licensing office, which will then remove the vehicle from the registry. Each vehicle must display at least one plate, either on the front or rear of the e-bike or e-scooter, or both.
Owners must also ensure that vehicles haven’t been modified, for example in a way that would increase their power beyond the 25km/h legal limit.
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The Transportation Ministry will present the regulation, based on a bill proposed by United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher, to the Economic Affairs Committee.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev has reportedly emphasised the need for identifying marks on scooters, arguing that their lack hampers law enforcement.
E-scooter sharing companies in Tel Aviv have been required to attach licence numbers to their vehicles since 2020, following a rise in the number of people suffering injuries in incidents involving scooters.
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Data from the Green Light advocacy group has also found that 26 e-bike riders died in accidents in Israel in 2023, twice the number of fatalities compared to the same period in 2022. In 2022, there were 3,608 reported injuries resulting from traffic accidents involving bikes and scooters.
Green Light reportedly supports the licensing initiative, but has stressed the need to tackle sales of high-performance scooters. It would also like to see improvements to law enforcement through the collaboration of municipal inspectors and police, and continued development of dedicated bike paths.
