Starting from January 1, 2024, electric three- and four-wheelers, which are popular among the elderly, will disappear from the streets of Beijing. Five departments including the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission issued a notice in July 2021 prohibiting the production and sale of illegal electric three- and four-wheelers. These vehicles are prohibited from driving on the road and parked in public places. Violators will be investigated and punished. The policy gave a two-and-a-half-year transition period, which has now expired.
Previously, many places have introduced policies or regulations to ban or restrict illegal electric three- and four-wheelers from driving on the road. Although such regulations have not yet been fully implemented in major cities across the country, it is a general trend to restrict such vehicles from taking to the road. This is also a necessary move to maintain road traffic order and protect the safety of people's lives and property.
Banning "Laotou Le" from the road is neither discriminatory against the elderly nor targeted at specific vehicle manufacturers, but is an "unavoidable" move to maintain traffic safety.
Zhang Zhuting, a professor at the Management Cadre College of the Ministry of Transport, said that most of the elderly scooters currently on the road neither meet the standards of non-motor vehicles nor can they be included in the standard management of motor vehicles. If driving on non-motorized lanes, "Laotou Le" can easily cause serious injuries to cyclists and walkers.
If driving on a motor vehicle lane and colliding with a motor vehicle, the driver of "Laotou Le" is more likely to be injured. In recent years, the number and severity of traffic accidents involving low-speed electric vehicles have been on the rise. To solve the problem of scooters for the elderly in accordance with laws and regulations, low-speed electric vehicles should be allowed to be legal and compliant in the future.