The Ministry of the Interior notes that the new law regulates for the first time the use of electric scooters, unicycles, Segways and other similar vehicles.
The law defines areas where such vehicles may be used and the conditions they and their drivers have to meet in order to participate in traffic.
Under the law, all persons riding such vehicles have to wear a helmet and not only those above 16, as is the case with bicycles. They must use cycle lanes or, if there are none, ride slowly along sidewalks and in traffic-calming zones.
At nighttime or during periods of low visibility, all persons riding bicycles, scooters and similar electric vehicles must wear reflective vests or other reflective gear.
E-scooter riders, as well as cyclists wearing headphones in both ears, face a fine of HRK 300.
An electric scooter with a motor of more than 0.6kW or one that can develop a speed of more than 25 kmph must not be used in public traffic if it does not have a speed limiter or is certified and, if possible, registered, the Strujni Krug e-mobility association has said.
The Ministry of the Interior also recalls that the amended law introduces an obligation for doctors examining or treating a driver as well as driver’s GP to notify the driver in case the driver is temporarily unfit to drive and to enter this in their medical record.
Doctors and drivers who fail to comply with the new regulations will be fined.
A person may be temporarily unfit to drive for a maximum six months, after which the driver need not undergo another medical checkup.
The new law regulates for the first time the participation of horse riders in road traffic and introduces a new term denoting a fully autonomous vehicle, a vehicle that can operate without a driver.
The law also envisages penalties for drivers using partially autonomous vehicles as fully autonomous ones, without the driver sitting in the driver’s seat.
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