Bicycles and e-scooters have been prohibited from two sections of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/travel/dubai-marina-area-guide-where-to-eat-sleep-and-shop-1.972356" target="_blank">Dubai Marina</a>. Signs were erected on Marina Walk and Marina Mall Walk warning that bicycles, e-scooters, roller blades and skateboards are prohibited. The rest of the eight-kilometre loop popular with tourists and joggers remains open to riders. The move appears to be the latest safety measure to prevent riders running into pedestrians or one another. In 2020, developer Emaar brought in speed limits to restrict bikes and e-scooters to 12 kilometres an hour. Security guards regularly patrol the marina but do not tend to challenge anyone unless they are riding recklessly. E-scooter ownership has boomed in recent years, particularly in the Marina and Downtown areas, where traffic and one-way systems can make short taxi journeys inconvenient. In Dubai, the authorities require any e-scooter rider who does not have a driving licence to complete an online safety course, for which they <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/04/28/fines-for-riding-e-scooters-in-dubai-without-permit-from-today/" target="_blank">receive a permit</a>. Applications can be<a href="https://traffic.rta.ae/trfesrv/public_resources/services/issue-scooter-permit/index.do" target="_blank"> made here</a>. A recent US study showed that nearby 40,000 broken bones, head injuries, cuts and bruises resulted from scooter accidents. The study on accidents in the US published in the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i> revealed the number of injuries trebled between 2014 and 2018 — with authors suggesting the numbers have likely grown since then.
