Kostas Kyranakis proposes a complete ban on skates for adults, mandatory adult insurance and stricter checks to reduce road accidents.
With in light of the increasing use of electric skates and incidents of violations of the Traffic Code, Kostas Kyranakis presented a new stringent regulatory framework aimed at enhancing road safety and reducing the crashes. The proposed changes include a blanket ban on the use of skates by adults, mandatory insurance for all adult drivers and tighter checks on sales and hire companies, with a focus on preventing illegal modifications that increase the speed of vehicles. This initiative is part of a broader strategy for road safety, at a time when micromobility is rapidly evolving and creating new challenges for traffic in cities.
Riding on the road is not GTA said Konstantinos Kyranakis who announced measures to reduce crashes with electric scooters.
The scooter picture
Specifically, the deputy transport minister announced a complete ban on the use of skates by minors, stricter penalties for companies that sell or modify skates outside legal specifications, but also mandatory insurance for all adult users, in his speech at the Economic Conference of “Imerisia”, on the topic “The world in transition – Greece, the new geo-economy and the next day of investments”.
Kyranakis, referring to road accidents with electric scooters, noted that so far Greece has not faced a widespread problem of fatal accidents compared to other European countries. He said that in 2025, two fatalities with electric scooters were recorded out of a total of 517 fatalities, while in 2026 there has already been one death of a minor, “a tragic accident, which obviously makes us all very sad.” The numbers in Europe, he said, are higher, 148 in the European Union in the past year.
Most incidents, he noted, are linked to violations of the already existing institutional framework with underage users often committing serious offences such as driving against one-way traffic, running red lights and ignoring stop signs.
“Minors do not show a willingness to behave properly on the road”
His statement regarding the new measures to be taken is detailed below:
“We are not the only ones paying for our own mistakes on the road. There is no big problem in terms of fatalities from electric scooters. Last year, the whole of 2025, we had 2 fatalities out of a total of 517. And this year so far we have 1, of a minor, a tragic accident, which obviously makes us all very sad. The numbers in Europe are higher, 148 in the European Union this past year.
But we are concerned because we see that minors are showing no inclination to behave on the road with basic rules of the road. We don’t know if this is coming from a change in habits at home. All of us who belong to a previous generation used to ride our bikes on the road, there was no such problem. Here we see juveniles who go into alleys upside down, run red lights, violate stop signs. And the injuries, and the one fatality, the tragic accident, come from violations of the existing framework. That is, what we see today, an adult even going out at 70 kilometers per hour on the Syngrou with an electric scooter, is also prohibited by the current framework. It won’t be banned, it is still banned today.
But we have to act. We owe it to the parents who are concerned about their children. And so therefore we will, by necessity, go to a complete ban on minors riding electric scooters on any road. A complete ban. Whether it’s a rental vehicle or whether it’s privately owned.
“We’re going to go to a tightening of fines.”
We’re going to go to a tightening of fines and it will also apply to businesses that sell electric scooters that violate, not only the speed limit that the Highway Code sets – which is 25 kilometres per hour – but also the standards that have been put into law.
So be aware, businesses that sell off-spec electric scooters, and businesses that “tinker” with them, meaning a kid takes a scooter to them, and they tinker with its speed, its performance, the way it runs on electricity. And they will be punished much more harshly.
I also want to say something to parents, and to younger children who may be watching us: Street traffic is not a game. Traffic on the road for all of us has certain rules that we learn when we get our license and must respect throughout our lives. From the time you get your license at 17-18 years old, until the time you stop driving.
May be some people, over the last few years, have been very influenced by their lifestyle and see skateboarding a bit like a game, or to be more specific, a video game. But because street riding is not GTA – which the new version is coming out in November, and our underage friends know it all too well – we will necessarily go to a ban, universally, for minors.
“Scooters will be insured as well”
And one additional measure I want to announce is that it will now be mandatory for adults to have insurance as well. For privately owned scooters that they ride around on, they will have to respect the limits. On major roads (Syngrou, Mesogeion, Kifissias), it is currently prohibited and this must be emphasized and explained, the Traffic Police already impose fines.
But this obligation will be extended to all businesses that lease scooters. Currently, some, to be fair, have an insurance framework, compensating up to 50,000 euros for civil disputes. This should be done by all companies that lease these vehicles. So that a driver, or a pedestrian, knows that when they have an accident, when they crash, even if nothing serious happens, there is mandatory insurance coverage.”
