Representatives of a citizens' group seeking tighter regulation of bikes and scooters in Palma went to the town hall on Monday in the hope of giving the mayor, José Hila, a traffic sign that he could put in Plaça Espanya. The sign, one that the group has created, requires cyclists and scooter riders to get off in order to avoid more accidents.
The group, which had a message of "we want to walk without fear", was referring to the mayor's announcement that there will be a bike lane from Plaça Espanya along the Avenidas once the tram system is operational.
"We can't wait for the tram so that there is a bike lane. It could take years," said Nael Falo, who insisted that town hall must recover pedestrians' rights not to be troubled by bikes and scooters. Among proposals that the group is to make to the town hall and the Balearic government is the creation of a 30-kilometre speed limit lane on roads where there are two or more lanes of traffic in the same direction.
“We want scooters and bikes to circulate on these 30-limit lanes, which would be marked and would share roads with the rest of the vehicles." "Urban space is being given away," stressed Falo. "Currently, 70 per cent is for cars and the remaining 30 per cent is supposed to be for pedestrians, but scooters have usurped it. The maximum speed of a scooter is supposed to be 30 kilometres per hour, but we know that they are manipulated. There are cases when they exceed 70."
The group started to collect signatures for a petition two weeks ago. "In just two hours we collected 400 signatures at the Pere Garau market. There is a popular outcry." It has an appointment with the councillor for mobility, Francesc Dalmau, and is waiting to see the mayor in order to present its requests.