No Oktoberfest story is beyond the realm of possibility, but hundreds of drunk scooter drivers losing their licenses probably wasn’t what you were expecting. Indeed, German police have revoked the licenses of hundreds of electric scooter operators who were riding while drunk at Munich’s legendary beer festival. According to a police statement issued Monday, 414 people total were caught riding e-scooters while under the influence, and 254 lost their driving licenses.
Photo: Rachid Jalayanadeja/Shutterstock
Hundreds Lose Their Driver's Licenses After Drunk E-Scootering at Oktoberfest
E-scooters are technically categorized as motorized vehicles in Germany — a fact that probably escaped many prior to drunk riding. The scooters were only officially legalized in June, and their recent popularity has posed a problem for Munich police during the already chaotic beer festival. Keeping the festival grounds clear of the scooters proved to be a tall task.
Riders were prevented from logging out of the scooter app while on-site in order to keep people from abandoning them everywhere, but nonetheless clusters of abandoned scooters were removed each night from around the city. As anyone who lives in a major city with scooters knows, they have a tendency to pile up on sidewalks and at heavily trafficked destinations. A study conducted earlier this year found that one in three injured riders were hurt on their first trip — so it goes without saying that massive amounts of beer and scootering don’t exactly mix. 