Micromobility as a Criminogenic Environmental Factor The Integration of E-scooters from a Situational Crime Prevention Perspective

Abstract

Aim: This study examines the traffic safety risks posed by micromobility devices, in particular e-scooters, from a criminal-sociological and police science perspective. The article explores how environmental crime risk can be reduced by applying the methodology of situational crime prevention during the transitional period of the Hungarian regulatory framework.

Methodology: Drawing on the criminological theories of routine activity and rational choice, and incorporating Wilson and Kelling’s “broken windows” theory, the author analyses the way public disorder generates rule-breaking. The research employs an international comparative analysis to assess the law-enforcement enforceability of the German, Singaporean and Parisian regulatory models.

Findings: The current regulatory vacuum and the anonymity associated with these devices make non-compliance a rational choice. Disordered parking conditions and the lack of appropriate infrastructure are not merely aesthetic problems but criminogenic factors that erode willingness to comply with the law. Security can be guaranteed by increasing perceived risk (through identifiability) and by preventive modifications to the physical environment.

Value: The scientific added value of the study lies in adapting situational crime prevention techniques to the field of traffic policing. The proposed prevention matrix provides a practical guide for legislators in designing a regulatory framework that is both enforceable and socially acceptable.