TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's electric scooter users will no longer require a driver's license from July, with the emerging means of mobility growing more popular in the country, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Thursday.
The new rules, to be introduced in July, apply to scooters with a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour. Minors under the age of 16 will be banned from riding them.
Scooter riders must comply with the same traffic rules as bicycles and are advised to wear helmets, although it is not compulsory, said the NPA.
Currently, electric scooters are classified as motorized bicycles, which means that riders are required to have a driver's license and wear a helmet.
The new rules are included in the revised road traffic law enacted last April. They were supposed to go into effect by April 2024, but the NPA decided to apply the rules earlier, with the number of electric scooter users rising fast in Japan, especially in metropolitan areas. ■