The Segway Association of the Czech Republic saw a violation of its fundamental rights in restricting electric segways in the Prague Heritage Reserve and other places with a high concentration of pedestrians. However, the Constitutional Court (ÚS) did not find any unconstitutional interference and rejected the association’s complaint on Monday. The ban on segways in selected locations is still in force.
Prague City Hall banned electric segways in parts of the city five years ago, citing the need to protect pedestrians from the danger of collisions with them. The regulation has been upheld by administrative courts to which the association has appealed in the past.
The association, therefore, filed a constitutional complaint, arguing that the transporters are not dangerous and that collisions with pedestrians do not occur. Rental operators have previously criticized the municipality for “malice” and “prohibition.” Apart from saying that the restriction violates fundamental rights, the association has also proposed to repeal a section of the Road Traffic Act.
However, the Senate of the Constitutional Court, with Judge Jan Filip as rapporteur, did not find the violation in the Constitution in the ban on segways. According to the judges, there is no need to elaborate on the possibility of endangering pedestrians, as the technical parameters of the segway directly determine this. The Constitutional Court also stressed that there is no need to wait for collisions to multiply, and therefore, there is a possibility to intervene in advance.