BERLIN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A vast majority (83 percent) of Germans believe that electric scooters belong in bicycle lanes, according to a survey conducted by Germany's Forsa Institute and published here on Thursday.
Only 11 percent of the respondents think that e-scooters should be allowed to be driven on sidewalks, while 22 percent say that e-scooters should be used on the road, according to the survey, which was commissioned by the Association of Technical Inspection Agencies (VdTUV).
"E-scooters enable a new, flexible form of mobility. However, the safety of all road users should come first," said Joachim Buehler, VdTUV's managing director.
German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer originally wanted to allow slow-moving e-scooters that cannot go faster than 12 kilometers per hour to be driven on sidewalks.
On Tuesday, however, Scheuer announced that slow e-scooters would not be allowed on sidewalks after all in view of widespread safety concerns voiced by the federal states.
Scheuer wanted to ensure a quick approval of these vehicles as the Bundesrat (Federal Council of state governments) is expected to vote on the regulation on May 17.
The Forsa survey shows that three out of four Germans expect e-scooters to cause more conflicts between road users, but a majority also believe that the e-scooter is a "good opportunity to improve people's mobility."
According to Forsa, 43 percent of Germans surveyed said they could imagine riding an e-scooter.
"These are very high acceptance values for a completely new vehicle category," Buehler commented.
