Background information
New electric motor scooter rules: how fast can you ride and how many passengers are you allowed?
by Lorenz Keller
National Council does not want strict rules for e-scooters - yet
8.5.2026
Translation: machine translated
E-scooters should only be allowed to be driven with a number plate, helmet and driving licence, a motion demands. The National Council has rejected it. Also because a revision of the law is planned for 2027 anyway.
Large, heavy, fast and dangerous - that's how National Councillor Matthias Jauslin from the Green Liberal Party sees e-scooters. He has therefore submitted a motion to categorise these vehicles as «fast motorbikes».
The demand: drivers of e-scooters should wear a helmet, have a driving licence and register and insure the vehicle. The same rules must apply to e-scooters as to fast e-bikes up to 45 km/h and mopeds. A second person on the pillion should be prohibited.
Important to know: Jauslin is only making this demand with regard to «e-scooters and similar trendy vehicles» that have seats, weigh a maximum of 250 kilograms and can travel at speeds of up to 25 kilometres per hour. The motion author has excluded e-scooters or e-scooters on which you stand and which travel at a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour.
If you want to know more about this categorisation, which has only been in force for a year, you can read all the information here.
Immediate tightening clearly rejected
In the National Council, however, the motion had no chance at the special session at the end of April. It was clearly rejected by 122 votes to 33 with 33 abstentions. Only Matthias Jauslin's own party fully supported the motion. All other parliamentary groups rejected the demand - even though there were individual votes in favour from left to right.
The votes in parliament showed that the politicians are not against tightening the law - but they are against the timing and the way in which it is done. After all, the legal basis only came into force a year ago. And the Federal Council is planning to revise them again in 2027. However, this will not involve a reallocation of categories, but rather an ordinary consultation process in which parties, associations and businesses can express their views.
Federal Councillor Martin Pfister showed understanding for the Jauslin motion: «Therefore, a helmet-wearing requirement for e-scooters should be put up for discussion in the consultation process.» The regulations regarding tuning should also be tightened so that the speed regulations for scooters cannot be circumvented so easily.
Almost nobody wants compulsory authorisation
Pfister and the majority of the National Council, however, are against reclassifying e-scooters into a different vehicle category, as similar vehicles belong in the same categories according to the Ordinance on the Technical Requirements for Road Vehicles (VTS). In other words, e-scooters are on an equal footing with slow e-bikes, and both may have a maximum drive speed of 25 kilometres per hour.
The Federal Council and Parliament are vehemently opposed to a registration requirement, which would mean a higher administrative burden. Federal Councillor Pfister also points out that a registration requirement would have to be introduced retroactively for all models on the market so as not to make police checks more difficult. In other words, all e-scooters that have already been purchased would also require a licence. «However, a corresponding change to the law would represent an unusual and major encroachment on the acquis», said Federal Councillor Pfister during the debate.
Other countries are more restrictive
In some neighbouring countries, the approach is more restrictive. Italy has just tightened its laws. From 16 May, every e-scooter, e-trotti and e-scooter will need an identification plate - even if you are only on holiday. The licence plate costs just under 34 euros and must be ordered online and then affixed to the mudguard or handlebars. Helmets are already compulsory, and from 16 July every rider will also need liability insurance.
In Germany, all newly registered e-scooters will need indicators and technically separate front and rear brakes from 2027. E-scooters already require liability insurance. This is evidenced by an affixed insurance licence plate.
In Switzerland, it will now take at least until 2027 before the rules are revised. I think that's a shame, as there is definitely a need for action in the area of safety. A helmet requirement would make sense, but for all two-wheelers with a motor, i.e. for e-scooters as well as e-scooters and e-bikes.
It is also questionable whether the vehicle weight should not play a greater role in the categorisation. In other words, whether an e-scooter weighing 150 to 250 kilograms should not automatically belong to the «fast motorbikes»: including the obligation to wear a helmet, registration and driving licence - but also the right to drive at 30 kilometres per hour like a moped.
In contrast, Switzerland abolished the vignette for bicycles in 2011 for good reasons. The administrative burden was high, the effect small, as almost everyone had taken out liability insurance.
Header image: Unsplash
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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