Motorised personal transport devices

Decree on the regulation of personal transport devices

The draft decree aims to define motorised personal transport devices as a new category of vehicle in the Highway Code, to define their technical characteristics and to define their use on public roads.

The choices made are intended to take into account the road safety issues of vulnerable users of personal transport devices, the safety issues for other vulnerable road users (cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrians with reduced mobility) and the issues associated with sharing public space between the various users.

Article R311-1 of the Highway Code is amended by the addition of paragraph 6.15 giving a definition of a motorised personal transport device as a vehicle without a seat, designed to transport a single person, which does not have any special fixtures or fittings intended for the transportation of goods, fitted with a non-thermal engine or non-thermal assistance and whose maximum design speed strictly exceeds 6 km/h but does not exceed 25 km/h. It may however have a saddle if it is equipped with a gyroscopic stabilisation system. Devices intended exclusively for people with reduced mobility are excluded from this category.

In addition, Article R321-4-2 is created in order to sanction users of motorised personal transport devices operating at speeds > 25 km/h; these may not be driven on public roads.

Articles R313-4, R313-5, R313-19, R313-20, and R313-33 of the Highway Code are amended to specify that these devices, like cycles, must be fitted with front position lights, rear position lights, orange lateral reflectors, a white front reflector and an audible warning device.

As regards the traffic rules, Article R412-43-1 is created in the Highway Code, indicating - in principle - the traffic spaces in which users of personal transport devices can and should circulate, inside and outside built-up areas. It should be noted that in contrast to cycles, which can only be obliged to circulate in cycle lanes or on cycle paths by the police authority (Article R431-9), users of motorised personal transport devices are, in principle, obliged to circulate in cycle lanes or on cycle paths in built-up areas, where these spaces exist.

This article also covers the possibilities available to mayors to provide for exemptions from this general framework. In particular, mayors may permit circulation on pavements, while ensuring that pedestrians are not inconvenienced.

Finally, this article specifies the sanctions incurred by users of motorised personal transport devices if they fail to observe the traffic rules applicable to them. As is the case with cycles, they will generally incur a class two penalty (C2).