A POPULAR Costa Blanca holiday hotspot was the scene of a bizarre high-speed chase after police pursued an electric scooter tearing through the town centre at more than 100 km/h.
Officers said they gave chase after the rider ignored orders to stop, with the souped-up scooter hitting a jaw-dropping 104 km/h during the pursuit in Benidorm last Saturday.
Local police eventually caught up with the rider and seized the vehicle, which spokesperson Quique Tortosa said had been modified to wildly exceed its factory speed limit.
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“[Personal mobility vehicles] are no toys,” police warned in a statement afterwards, stressing that reckless riding poses a serious danger to both pedestrians and other road users.
The extraordinary incident has reignited concerns over e-scooters being used on busy streets across Spain.
Several popular tourist destinations, including Marbella, have already spent years cracking down on the vehicles, making helmets compulsory and handing out hefty fines for rule-breakers.
In January, Spain introduced sweeping new regulations, setting the minimum age for riders at 16 and requiring owners of light personal vehicles (VMPs) to take out civil liability insurance.
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The measures were introduced in response to a sharp rise in accidents involving e-scooters, with some riders increasingly flouting traffic laws.
In November last year, a 49-year-old man died in Sevilla after colliding at night with an e-scooter that was illegally carrying two teenagers.
Research by Barcelona’s RACC Mobility Club also painted a worrying picture, finding that one in four e-scooter users ignore basic road rules, including traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.
The study further revealed that more than 90% of regular riders were unaware of the incoming insurance requirements.
In 2024, 13 people were killed in Spain in traffic accidents involving e-scooters.
Meanwhile, a report by Fundacion Mapfre and Cesvimap recorded 396 e-scooter incidents nationwide last year, leaving more than 100 people seriously injured.
Almost two-thirds of the accidents involved collisions with other vehicles, while 22% were falls and 10% involved pedestrians being struck.
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