Photo/Illutration Electric scooters unrelated to the fatal accident in Tokyo on Sept. 25 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A driver of an electric standup scooter fell from the vehicle and died in Tokyo, marking the first death in Japan involving an e-scooter, the Metropolitan Police Department reported on Sept. 26.

According to the Tsukishima Police Station in the capital, the accident occurred in a parking lot of an apartment building in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward at around 10:45 p.m. on Sept. 25.

While riding an electric scooter at the parking lot, the 52-year-old company executive from the capital’s Minato Ward changed direction and slammed into a concrete curb. He fell forward and hit his head hard.

The man was not wearing a helmet when he was involved in the accident, according to police.

The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was apparently operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol, according to police.

He was riding an electric scooter rented out from a company certified to operate the business under the government’s demonstration experiment.

Drivers of electric scooters are required to wear a helmet because the vehicles are classified as motorized bicycles under the Road Traffic Law.

But the government made helmet wearing optional under the demonstration experiment, which treats electric scooters as “special small motor vehicles,” such as tractors.

Related News