A police officer in Kyoto Prefecture has received a traffic violation ticket for riding an electric scooter while drunk, prefectural police officials said Thursday.
The prefectural police department plans to refer the assistant inspector in his 40s to public prosecutors on suspicion of violating the road traffic law, the officials said.
The police officer drank alcohol at a pub with colleagues in the city of Kyoto on a night in late April. After sending a colleague home, he went out for a drink again 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 law was revised to allow people aged 16 or older to ride electric scooters without a driver’s license.
The move made electric scooters popular, leading to an increase in the number traffic violations involving them.
In Kyoto Prefecture, the number of traffic violations involving electric scooters jumped to 318 in the first four months of this year from 127 in the July-December period last year.
Tokyo-based Luup leases electric scooters at some 7,800 locations nationwide, mainly in major cities. It is taking steps to prevent dangerous driving by users, including freezing the accounts of customers who have committed drunken driving.
Luup is calling for users to follow traffic rules while paying attention to pedestrians and vehicles.