A police officer in Kyoto Prefecture has received a traffic violation fine for riding an electric scooter while drunk, prefectural police officials said Thursday.
Prefectural police plan to refer the assistant inspector, in his 40s, to the prosecutor’s office on suspicion of violating the traffic law, officials said.
The police officer drank alcohol at a pub with colleagues in the city of Kyoto one evening in late April. After sending a colleague home, he went back for drinks alone, according to people familiar with the investigation.
He later rented an electric scooter on his way home and was stopped by a police officer, according to the people.
In July last year, the Road Traffic Act was revised so that people aged 16 or older can ride an electric scooter without a driver’s license.
This move popularized electric scooters, leading to an increase in the number of traffic violations involving them.
In Kyoto Prefecture, the number of traffic violations involving electric scooters rose from 127 in July-December last year to 318 in the first four months of this year.
Tokyo-based Luup leases electric scooters at about 7,800 locations nationwide, mainly in major cities. The company is taking measures to prevent dangerous driving behavior by users, including freezing the accounts of customers who have driven drunk.
Luup calls on users to follow traffic rules while paying attention to pedestrians and vehicles.
