E-scooters in Sibiu: Bolt and Lime, the city’s 2026 rules on where to ride and park, removal and fines in lei
You can rent an e-scooter (trotinetă electrică) in Sibiu with Bolt or Lime. Romanian law lets anyone of 14 or over ride with no licence, makes a helmet compulsory under 16 on the carriageway, and keeps riders in the cycle lane or on roads with a 50 km/h limit. Sibiu’s own regulation, adopted at the end of April 2026, keeps scooters out of pedestrian zones and off park alleys without a cycle lane, Turnul Sfatului reports.
Which e-scooter apps work in Sibiu?
Bolt and Lime scooters are on ScootRadar’s map of Sibiu.
At 19:57 on Monday 2 November 2026, Romanian time, the Sibiu map showed about 90 Bolt scooters free to rent at that moment and about 290 Lime scooters as last counted.
The Local Council adopted a scooter regulation at the end of April 2026, Turnul Sfatului reported on 9 September. The draft put to the vote on 30 April set out that a company may rent scooters on public land only under a temporary permit from the city (art. 4–5), that two operators would be admitted (art. 5), and that the apps must limit rental scooters to 25 km/h (art. 19).
Our guides to Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest cover the same national rules. New to shared e-scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.
What a badly parked scooter costs in Sibiu
Each app shows its Sibiu price before you unlock, and its terms set any charge for bad parking. The draft put to the vote set out what a scooter left in a banned place costs (art. 13 and 24):
- the operator must move it within 120 minutes, or 60 minutes in the historic centre (Centrul Istoric); otherwise the city takes it to the vehicle pound on strada Preot Bacca, and the local police return it once the operator has paid;
- the charges are those of the Local Council’s decision HCL 150/2023: 100 lei for removal, 100 lei for transport and 50 lei a day for storage from 00:00 on the day after;
- leaving a scooter in a banned place is fined 800–1,000 lei for a person and 1,500–2,500 lei for a company, given by the local police or the mayor’s officers (art. 26).
Can you ride an e-scooter in Sibiu? Age, helmet and licence
Yes, and you need no licence. Romania’s road law, OUG 195/2002, treats an e-scooter built for more than 6 km/h and no more than 25 km/h as a vehicle that needs no registration (art. 6 and 12), and lets anyone of 14 or over ride one on public roads (art. 70).
- Age: 14 by law. Each app sets its own minimum age for renting.
- Helmet: compulsory under 16 when you ride on the carriageway (art. 70).
- Passengers: banned. One person per scooter.
- Hands: both on the handlebar, says the law’s regulation, HG 1391/2006 (art. 161).
- ID: carry an identity document, say the regulation and Sibiu’s draft (art. 22).
- Phone and headphones: the draft bans using a phone, or headphones over both ears, while you ride (art. 20).
- Sober: riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs is banned, and the law sets no limit (regulation art. 161).
Where can you ride an e-scooter in Sibiu?
Cycle lane first, then the road, never the pavement. Where there is a cycle lane, ride only in it; without one, the law allows e-scooters only on roads with a 50 km/h limit (art. 41), in the lane by the kerb. The pavement is banned unless a cycle lane is marked on it (regulation art. 161). Sibiu’s draft repeats these rules (art. 20–22).
The draft put to the vote adds these bans (art. 20 and 21). You may not ride:
- on streets signed as a pedestrian zone, closed to bicycles, closed in both directions, or closed to vehicles by any other sign;
- within 10 m of the entrance of a kindergarten, school, university, food market or shopping centre (art. 3): get off and walk;
- on the alleys of parks and public gardens that have no cycle lane.
The draft draws its banned zones on an annexed map (art. 21), which Turnul Sfatului published on 24 April 2026. In March the paper wrote that, if adopted, it would ban riding in the whole central area and most parks, G4Media reported.
Belvedere and Sub Arini. Meeting teenage riders by Parcul Belvedere on 3 July 2026, the county traffic police said scooters may not use the alleys of any park, Belvedere or Sub Arini, and that a group must keep to the cycle lane in single file, never the car lane, “whether we are 10, 20 or 30” (Turnul Sfatului, 4 July 2026).
The law’s regulation also bans riding two abreast, holding on to another vehicle, learning to ride on busy roads, riding on black ice, ice or snow, and riding across a pedestrian crossing: get off and walk. Sibiu’s draft repeats these (art. 22).
Where can you park a rental e-scooter in Sibiu?
End the ride where the app allows. The draft put to the vote set out that the city sites the parking spots, marked on the ground and in the operator’s app (art. 4). Its parking bans bind riders as well as operators:
| Place | Rule |
|---|---|
| Pavement narrower than 2 m | Banned |
| Pavement 2.5 m wide or more | Upright, parallel or at an angle to the kerb on the road side, in line with trees and posts, taking up no more than 0.5 m |
| Stops and pedestrian crossings | Banned along them and 25 m before and after |
| Junctions | Banned in them and within 10 m |
| The carriageway, parking bays, green spaces, river or lake banks | Banned |
| Against buildings, fences or bridges; entrances; steps; bike racks; drain covers | Banned |
| By school, market and mall entrances; café terraces and fairs | Only at the edge, not blocking the way in |
| Pedestrian zones | Allowed, tucked away, not blocking pedestrians, fountains, shop entrances or events |
The draft also lets the city have operators take their scooters off an area for a time in bad weather, at public events, in emergencies and during works (art. 6), so check the app before you end a ride.
Romania’s e-scooter rules and fines in lei
Romanian fines are counted in fine points (puncte-amendă), each worth 5% of the gross minimum wage (road law art. 98). With the minimum wage at 4,325 lei since 1 July 2026 (HG 146/2026), one point is 216.25 lei. Most e-scooter offences are class II (art. 100: 4–5 points, 865–1,081.25 lei), as Sibiu’s draft notes (art. 23); the dangerous ones below are class III (art. 101: 6–8 points, 1,297.50–1,730 lei). Riders aged 14 to 17 pay half, and anyone who pays within 15 days pays half the minimum (OG 2/2001, art. 11 and 28).
| Rule | What applies | Who sets it | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helmet | Compulsory under 16 on the carriageway | Road law art. 70 and 100 | 432.50–540.63 lei (class II, halved for a minor) |
| Where to ride | Cycle lane if there is one, else roads with a 50 km/h limit; kerb lane only | Road law art. 41; regulation art. 160–161 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Pavement, crossings, ice or snow | Banned unless the pavement carries a cycle lane; walk across crossings; no riding on ice or snow | Regulation art. 161 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Alcohol or drugs | Banned when “under the influence”; the law sets no limit | Regulation art. 161; road law art. 101 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Lights at night | White or yellow at the front, red at the back, reflectors | Road law art. 70; regulation art. 14 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Red light, holding on to a vehicle, motorways | Banned | Road law art. 74 and 101; regulation art. 161 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Sibiu’s no-ride zones, speed, signs | Pedestrian zones, park alleys, school and market entrances | City: draft art. 20, 21 and 24 | 800–1,000 lei |
| Parking | Not in the places above | City: draft art. 4 and 24 | 800–1,000 lei |
| Riders under 14 | Parents or guardians are fined | City: draft art. 24 | 1,000–1,500 lei |
None of the road law’s 2025–2026 amendments touched these e-scooter rules; the class III list has stood since 29 June 2024.
How Sibiu’s rules came about
The debate on a local regulation began in autumn 2025, after a 13-year-old boy died following an e-scooter accident near Podul Gării, Turnul Sfatului wrote on 24 April 2026. The draft went out for public debate on 6 March and to the Local Council on 30 April.
By 9 September an online petition had 1,226 signatures. It asks for a minimum age of 16, a compulsory permit or certificate proving knowledge of the road rules, number plates on every e-scooter, private or rented, and more police checks; some of its demands were already in the council’s regulation, the paper noted.
Checks. With the vehicle registry, Registrul Auto, the county police check from time to time with special equipment that scooters are limited to 25 km/h (Turnul Sfatului, 4 July 2026). From July to September Sibiu’s local police gave 20 sanctions under the scooter rules, among 3,330 for traffic offences (25 October).
Taking a scooter on a bus
To take your own scooter on a city bus, check with Tursib before you board.
Did you know?
- Wet cobbles, like ice, take rental scooters off the streets. The draft put to the vote requires operators to remove every scooter when the carriageway has black ice, ice, packed snow or slush on it, or is of wet cobblestones (art. 19).
- Fewer pupils come to school by scooter. In Urban Bike Revolution’s survey of Sibiu’s schools, the share of pupils coming by scooter fell from 1.2% in 2023 to 0.85% in 2025, while 53.8% were brought by car (Turnul Sfatului, 1 October 2026).
- No advertising on rental scooters. The draft put to the vote bans using them for advertising, with a fine of 800–1,000 lei for the rider (art. 14 and 24).
Questions
- Which e-scooter companies operate in Sibiu?
- Bolt and Lime, each in its own app, and the map shows both. Check the fare and the minimum age in the app.
- Can you ride an e-scooter in Sibiu’s pedestrian zones?
- No. The regulation the council adopted in April bans riding in pedestrian zones, Turnul Sfatului reported; the draft put to the vote set a fine of 800–1,000 lei. Get off and walk.
- Can you ride an e-scooter in Parcul Sub Arini or Belvedere?
- Not on the alleys: the draft bans riding on park alleys without a cycle lane, and in July 2026 the county police told riders to keep off the alleys of Belvedere and Sub Arini.
- Do you need a licence or a helmet to ride an e-scooter in Romania?
- No licence: anyone of 14 or over may ride one. A helmet is compulsory only under 16 on the carriageway.
- What happens to a rental e-scooter left in a banned place in Sibiu?
- Under the draft put to the vote, the operator has 120 minutes, or 60 in the historic centre, to move it; otherwise the city removes it and charges the operator. The draft fines the rider 800–1,000 lei.
- What is the fine for riding an e-scooter drunk in Romania?
- Riding under the influence is a class III offence: 1,297.50–1,730 lei for an adult since 1 July 2026. The law sets no limit, so don’t ride after drinking at all.