Force clarifies impoundments are aimed at saving lives and clearing pedestrian walkways, not penalizing micro-mobility users
ABU DHABI : Abu Dhabi Police have confiscated more than 9,200 electric scooters during the first ten months of 2026, targeting riders who weave through fast-moving highway traffic, disregard helmet rules, and endanger pedestrians on crowded pavements.
Senior traffic officials emphasized that the sweeping enforcement campaign is not aimed at banning or penalizing the micro-mobility sector. Instead, the clampdown is designed to halt hazardous riding habits before they translate into debilitating road trauma and fatal collisions.
Colonel Jaber Saeedan Al Mansouri, Director of the Traffic and Security Patrols Department in Al Ain, explained during a broadcast on Abu Dhabi Radio that confiscating machines remains an enforcement mechanism of last resort against repeated, high-risk non-compliance. While e-scooters offer practical, low-cost urban transit for commuters across age groups, unsafe operation has increasingly compromised public safety.
“The objective is to ensure scooters remain a safe means of personal transport rather than a source of inconvenience or injury to others,” Colonel Al Mansouri said.
Data released by the Traffic and Security Patrols Directorate shows that officers impounded 9,237 electric scooters between January and mid-October 2026.
The primary violation leading to seizures involved users taking micro-mobility devices onto multi-lane public roads alongside passenger cars, heavy freight trucks, and public transit buses. In several instances, riders operated along corridors with speed limits exceeding 60 km/h, where low-profile scooters are strictly barred by law.
Enforcement teams also logged widespread non-compliance on footpaths. Rather than sticking to dedicated cycle tracks, several riders sped through dedicated pedestrian corridors, creating collision hazards for joggers, children, and elderly residents.
A substantial portion of impoundments stemmed from basic equipment failures and behavioural negligence. Officers routinely intercepted individuals riding without protective helmets, carrying second passengers on single-occupant footboards, riding without illuminated front or rear lamps at night, and wearing noise-canceling headphones in traffic.
Under existing regulations enforced across the emirate, electric scooter riders must be at least 16 years old and wear a secured safety helmet. Devices must not exceed the statutory speed limit of 20 km/h and can only be operated on demarcated cycle and micro-mobility paths or municipal service roads rated at 30 km/h or less.
The authority reiterated that community compliance is a collective responsibility. Alongside intensified field checkpoints and automated camera surveillance, traffic patrols will sustain educational drives to remind riders—and parents supervising teenagers—that basic road discipline protects every user sharing the transport network.
