The Market Square should be a place where people can walk, relax and safely move between restaurants, shops and outdoor dining areas. Instead, it increasingly resembles a track for electric scooters and bicycles.
Residents point out that young users of such vehicles in particular travel far too fast. They ride among people out for a walk, make sudden manoeuvres and pass just inches from pedestrians.
– They simply race through the Market Square. You walk along peacefully and suddenly a scooter flies past just a few centimetres away. You have to keep looking behind you all the time – says one resident.
It is also common to see two people standing on one scooter. Such behaviour is prohibited because an electric scooter is intended for one person only. An additional passenger makes steering, maintaining balance and braking safely more difficult.
Two boys were recently taken to hospital
On 25 July, a serious accident involving an electric scooter and a passenger car occurred on Kościuszki Street in Bolesławiec.
According to the police's preliminary findings, a teenager riding the scooter was carrying a minor passenger and failed to give way to an Audi travelling correctly. A collision followed, and both boys were taken to hospital. Neither of them was wearing a helmet.
Just two days earlier, we reported another warning about dangerous riding. A young scooter user allegedly rode onto a pedestrian crossing near the courthouse despite the red light. Earlier, residents had reported, among other things, riding against the flow of traffic, looking at a phone, squeezing between cars and groups of young people taking up almost the entire width of the road.
The problem has also affected the city centre for a long time. Readers had previously warned about groups of young people travelling at high speed towards the Market Square. One resident said directly that speeding scooter and bicycle users “terrorise” pedestrians on pavements. He pointed out that an able-bodied person may still be able to jump out of the way, but seniors and people with limited mobility often do not have that option.
Children and seniors are most at risk
Small children, older people and those leaving shops and outdoor dining areas are most vulnerable in the Market Square. A child may suddenly change direction, while a senior may not always manage to get out of the way of a speeding vehicle.
Despite the large number of pedestrians, some young scooter and bicycle users do not slow down. Some apparently assume that pedestrians should get out of their way.
The problem is worsening, and further warnings have brought no visible improvement. Young people often disregard both the regulations and residents' comments. More frequent checks by the police and municipal police, as well as a decisive response from parents, are needed.
For now, it ends with fear, swearing and the need to jump out of the way of speeding vehicles. After the accident on Kościuszki Street, however, it is clear how serious the consequences of reckless riding can be. It is only a matter of time before a similar incident occurs in the crowded Bolesławiec Market Square.