For the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), Viimsi, just outside Tallinn, is one example of a problem area, where minors have been repeatedly found riding scooters more powerful than allowed.

Current law in Estonia has it that 10- to 15-year-olds require a bicycle license when riding a bike, but this is not a requirement when it comes to scooters traveling up to 25 km/h, as these must be ridden on sidewalks.

While rental e-scooters operated by companies like Bolt and Tuul set a minimum age of 16 for using the service, children as young as ten can ride privately-owned e-scooters, also growing in number and often much more powerful than the rental variety.

Similarly, while cyclists of the same age are required to have a bike license, e-scooter riders are not, even as these vehicles' top speeds often significantly exceed those of bikes.

Driving instructor Indrek Madar told "Aktuaalne kaamera" the current social contract seems to be that if a child is capable of navigating traffic independently and the parent allows it, then no document proving the right to operate an e-scooter is needed.

"If society considers this acceptable, then no regulation is needed, but if society believes that a regulation is necessary — I would say that traffic accident statistics reflect this as well — then in my view, there should be at least some regulation in this field," Madar said.

According to the Transport Administration, only 13 percent of 10- to 12-year-olds have a bicycle license in any case.

However, Madar said extending the bicycle license requirement to e-scooter riders was unreasonable as, while the theory is the same, riding an e-scooter requires entirely different techniques.

Raul Annuka, head of the PPA's North Prefecture's traffic accident investigation group, also noted the regulation relates to riding on public roads. "Most light vehicles are intended for use on sidewalks, and the requirement for a driving license does not apply there," he said.

Opinions were divided on whether further regulation was needed, based on the brief vox pop "Aktuaalne kaamera" took of members of the public.

One, Natalja, said: "I think it's right, as people ride very fast, they don't know the traffic rules. They don't use safety equipment, neither helmets nor anything else, and just race at top speed. It's dangerous for both pedestrians and the riders themselves. I don't like that everyone can ride an electric scooter."

Another, Kaspar, told the show: "Where the speed limits haven't been removed from the scooters, it seems like kids can more or less manage. I'd say maybe there's no need to go so far as to regulate."

Annuka added that while the maximum allowed scooter speed is 25 km/h, the PPA not long ago stopped a 12-year-old whose scooter had a factory setting top speed of 80 km/h. This "is indeed dangerous both for the child and for all other road users," Annuka added.

Meanwhile, Finland wants to set a minimum age of 15 for e-scooter users.

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