New highway code: Zigzags banned for two-wheelers, wedges allowed in traffic jams

“They’re just kids, let them ride.” That excuse won’t hold anymore. Under the new Road Traffic Code, parents must be more cautious about allowing their children to use electric scooters. Scooters with a top speed exceeding 6 km/h are now banned for minors under 15. Riders over 15 will face heavy fines for common offenses, such as riding without a helmet or reflective vest, using a mobile phone, running red lights, or exceeding speed limits.

With the new KOK, which goes out for consultation next week – barring any contingency – and will be introduced in Parliament for a vote in January, almost everything is changing, to bring some order to Greece’s traffic chaos. Not only car and motorcycle drivers are being targeted, but also underage users of mini-mobility vehicles and even pedestrians, who will be fined for “reckless driving” if, for example, they cross roads with red lights for pedestrians, stand at crossings and delay cars, or put themselves and other road users at risk.

These and many other, often innovative, provisions of the CCC are not here to… stay on paper. Enforcement will be taken care of by 388 cameras installed at traffic lights in 2025 and 1,000 more in 2026, which will record violations and send tickets electronically to the driver’s cell phone.

The aim, as Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport officials explain, is not to impose punitive penalties, but to bring order to the chaos with traffic across the country and stop the bloodshed on the roads. This is a big gamble, given that, as Deputy Minister of Transport Vassilis Economou has pointed out, our country ranks 4th worst in Europe in terms of traffic fatalities.

“It is typical that in 2023, of the 621 people killed in road accidents, half of them died in the city while 100 were pedestrians.” So how can this change?

Electric scooters

As far as electric scooters are concerned, the new CCC divides them into two categories: those that travel at speeds of up to 6 kilometers per hour and those that are capable of speeds of up to 25 kilometers per hour. For the former, the lowest permissible driving age is 12 years, while for the latter it is for people aged 15 and over.

In any case, e-scooters are now subject to the provisions of the CCC, and fines are provided for all categories of offences, even for minors, with the responsibility falling on the parents and also on the companies that rent micro-mobility vehicles. Fines under the MCC, as explained by the State Secretary for Transport, will be imposed on vehicle users aged 15 and over.

“The kid who was hit the other day in Mesogeion has no business scooting down the boulevard. This is unthinkable. Parents must understand […] Every parent must understand that they cannot let a 10-12-year-old child go to Sygrou or Kifissia,” said Mr. Economou.

In addition, juvenile and adult electric skate drivers will have to wear, as required by the Code, a helmet -here the fines are very severe-, a reflective vest, and lights not only on the vehicle but also on their clothes. It may seem like pointing out the obvious, but having micro-mobility vehicles on certain roads and making sure that their users are visible to other drivers at night is more than important.

With the new CCC, dropping the speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour on urban roads takes a picture of micro-mobility vehicles, as ministry officials explain that the speed reduction came to favor these vehicles and allow them to move on more roads.

Thus, the prohibition of electric skates and bicycles on major highways, expressways – and of course on closed highways – is in effect, with the ban on their movement generally specified on roads that have a speed limit of more than 50 kilometers per hour. Drivers of e-scooters are required to use cycle lanes. If there are none, they are required to use the right-hand end of the roadway.

According to the MOC, e-scooters must be equipped with lights (white or yellow front and red reflective rear), and a bell, and drivers must carry a flashlight or reflective light on their vest. In addition to the reflective vest and helmet, drivers will not be allowed to use a cell phone and headphones (they will still be allowed to use a hands-free cell phone if it is attached to a special skate mount), nor carry a second person. They will be required to comply fully with the Highway Code when driving on the road. When riding in areas where pedestrians are present, they will be required to travel at a speed commensurate with pedestrians and yield the right of way to them, and to ride their skates while walking when an obstacle or hazard is created.

Another important provision concerns the areas where skates are left. With this provision being more concerned with companies that provide micro-mobility vehicles for short-term rental in the country’s major cities, penalties will also be stiffer for electric scooters that are left on handicapped ramps and obstruct access for pedestrians and people with disabilities.

Here, after consultation with the companies, an agreement has been reached and the most likely scenario is that the cost of the violation (it is an anti-social violation, so with a heavy fine) will be charged to the company, which will be able to turn against the user who left it in a place where it is not allowed and claim compensation, i.e. payment of the ticket.

Motorcycles

The new MOT, as revealed by THEME, comes to allow fueling on motorcycles (and all two-wheelers), i.e. wedges between cars in traffic jams. This, while innovative (remember that, under a Supreme Court ruling, the driver of the motorcycle doing the filtering is liable for any accident), will not be done haphazardly. On the contrary, it may lead to heavy fines for motorcycle drivers who abuse the new provision that comes to facilitate their movement.

In practice, this means that while two-wheeler drivers will be allowed to ride between cars, i.e. in the lane markings, they will not be allowed to maneuver. Thus, drivers who zigzag by changing lanes between cars (a phenomenon that is still common in traffic conditions and is extremely dangerous) will be able to be issued with an infraction.

Very severe penalties will also be imposed for another “detail” under the new CCC that will allow for the filtering of two-wheelers. Driving between traffic jams will be allowed under certain conditions. That is, filtering will not be allowed at speeds above 25km per hour (there will be a fine for speeding), but neither will it be allowed when other vehicles are moving at normal speeds and conditions.

Two-wheeler drivers will therefore only be able to drive wedges when cars are moving at very low speeds or are immobilised due to traffic jams. With the new CCC placing a heavy emphasis on two-wheelers, attempting to make their use more attractive and incorporating their real and necessary conditions of movement on the roads, their drivers come out favored on the one hand, heavily scrutinised for offences on the other.

The new code recognizes the need for motorcycles to move between, rather than in front of and behind, cars to facilitate and ease traffic, and the need to give way at traffic lights. Two-wheelers will now be allowed to pass in front of cars to wait for the green light, to ease traffic, but also, more importantly, to eliminate the risk that motorcyclists are subject to when standing behind cars, in line, of being swept away by another car.

Two-wheelers have a prominent place in the new CCC, as they have a lower environmental footprint and relieve traffic congestion, but also because they are the leading cause of traffic accidents. Mr. Economou is clear: riding a two-wheeler without a helmet is something that will be eliminated, as it is unacceptable and unjustified.

Thus, under the new Code, which will come into force in 2025, the penalties for not wearing a helmet are being tightened, with a fine and a driving license revocation for up to five years in case of a repeat offence, i.e. if a driver is caught more than once driving a motorcycle without a helmet.

For the other “common” traffic code violations by two-wheelers, such as violating red lights, exceeding speed limits, and driving against the flow of traffic and sidewalks, the approximately 1.400 new cameras that will be installed at traffic lights in Athens, recording the violations for which fines (and other penalties) will be confirmed and sent electronically by SMS to the offender’s mobile phone, but also to the citizen’s mailbox, Mygov.

From the new year something else about motorcycles changes as well. While until now the Road Traffic Code only allows parking parallel to the pavement (except in specific places where it is provided for with a sign), now motorcycles will be able to park legally vertically, at the edge of the roadway. In this way, it will be easier for bicyclists and other motorists, as parking spaces for cars and motorcycles will be saved.

Electronic ticketing

For cars, as for other vehicles, the maximum speed limit in urban areas will be reduced from 50 to 30 kilometers per hour, except on avenues and motorways where there is fast traffic (where the limits remain as they are, with a maximum of 130 kilometers per hour at points on motorways) and outside schools, where the limit will drop to 20 kilometers.

What also changes is that for the first time, the enforcement of the penalty is decoupled from the vehicle and is borne by the user. Rather than “punishing” the car by removing the license plates and registration, the penalty will be applied to the driver, or, if the offender cannot be identified, to the owner of the vehicle.

Under the new CCC, offences are categorised according to their dangerousness (in three categories), with penalties escalating in severity in the event of a repeat offence, as they will lead to the withdrawal of a driving licence for five years, five-year prison sentences and fines of up to €10,000 for offences that endanger human lives, or by the completion of 25 points in the point system.

The three categories of penalties

■ E1: Low-risk offences. These are misdemeanors (but which also apply to underage electric skate drivers), such as illegal parking and lack of identification documents, for which there will be a fine of €30 and a driving licence suspension of up to 10 days.

■ E2: Medium risk offences. These are offences such as exceeding the speed limit by less than 30 kilometres per hour. Penalties range from a fine of up to €150 and the withdrawal of the driving licence for 20 days.

■ E3: High-risk offences and anti-social driving. These are defined as offences such as breaching red traffic lights and STOP, driving under the influence of alcohol, wedging and racing, exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 kilometers per hour, driving in the LEA, parking on ramps or disabled spaces, etc. Here, criminal punishment is also provided for, which may have a felony character (!), according to Article 290A paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code as amended by Law 5090/2024, which provides for severe penalties (imprisonment of at least 1 year if there is a danger to a person, imprisonment of up to 10 years for serious bodily injury, even life imprisonment if death of a large number of people is caused).

The new CCC also changes the system of attestation of infringements. This is because it will be confirmed electronically by the traffic police officers and not with the “pink slip” that is currently in force, with the ticket being “locked” in the electronic system (it cannot be deleted), while the offender will be automatically informed by SMS on his mobile phone.

Objections can now only be filed electronically and within 7-10 days, and if they are not deemed valid, the fines will be posted on the offending driver’s TAXISnet profile. If he does not pay it on time, then it will be a confirmed debt to the state. If the fine is accompanied by the withdrawal of the driving license, it will not be returned in case the fine is not paid.

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