E-scooters: new era of mobility or threat to safety?
Do e-scooters have a place as a legal form of transport in the UK’s towns and cities?
Christmas shoppers are being advised to hold off buying e-scooters as gifts this year, despite suggestions from the Government that they could be legalised on UK roads.
As part of Warwickshire County Council’s new Scoot Smart Campaign, councillor Jan Matecki warned Christmas shoppers: “By gifting an e-scooter, we risk putting young people in harm’s way – not only legally, with fines and licence points, but also in terms of safety.”
This follows comments from the then Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, who described e-scooters in a meeting with the Commons’ Transport Select Committee as “a really effective part of an integrated transport strategy”. She added that full legislation surrounding e-scooter usage was now “clearly required”, given that the UK has been operating trial rental schemes since 2020.
With this in mind, Warwickshire Council, which is not running an e-scooter trial scheme, said, “Although there are calls for e-scooters to become a legal and alternative form of transport, all indications are that they will be illegal for under 16s, which makes them a risky choice of Christmas present.”
Renting an e-scooter via a trial scheme has so far been the only way to legally ride one on public highways, with more trials set to begin soon across the UK. Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration announced plans to fully legalise them back in its Queen’s Speech of 2022, but since then nothing has come to fruition.
The question of whether it’s a good idea to legalise the usage of the two-wheelers is a much-debated one – especially when there are serious safety concerns. In 2023, as many as 3,365 people were injured across Europe in e-scooter accidents, with 23 people reportedly losing their lives.
In November, Italy introduced new laws to make helmets and insurance mandatory for e-scooter riders, falling in line with recommendations from the European Transport Safety Council. This could, however, have a negative impact on e-scooter rental companies; the operations director for Bit Mobility, a European micromobility firm, recently told an Italian newspaper: “80 per cent of our users are occasional clients who take an e-scooter at the last minute. It’s unthinkable that someone will bring a helmet from home.”
Enrico Stefàno, the senior public policy manager for Lime, which operates e-scooter rental services in both Italy and the UK, said that fitting out its fleet of rental models with helmets could set the firm back millions of Euros. He also estimated that tougher legislation could see e-scooter usage fall by as much as 25 per cent, saying: “[We] don’t want to leave Italy or disinvest or lay-off anyway, but it’s clear that this is a measure that has an impact.”
Read on for our guide to everything you need to know about e-scooters…
Are e-scooters legal in the UK?
As the law stands, private e-scooters are not allowed on public roads, nor is it permitted for them to be ridden on pavements or cycle paths. There are, however, a couple of exceptions. Riders are able to make use of rented e-scooters in a number of trial locations in the UK, but only on roads (excluding motorways) and cycle paths. If you want to buy your own e-scooter, you can ride it on private land without fear of a fine or prosecution, but that’s it.
Where can I ride an e-scooter?
Several towns and cities have signed up for the UK’s e-scooter trial scheme, allowing operators to rent out scooters to the general public. These locations include, but are not limited to, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Liverpool, London (excluding a handful of boroughs), Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Salford and Taunton.
Do I need a licence for an e-scooter?
To use an e-scooter in the UK, you need to have a Category Q driving licence or above. This is the equivalent of a provisional licence, so in other words, you don’t need to have passed your driving test.
Of course, it goes without saying that it’s illegal to ride an e-scooter while intoxicated. Hiring an e-scooter through one of the trial schemes will include insurance and while it’s not a legal requirement to wear a helmet, it’s recommended to do so.
Are e-scooters dangerous?
In theory, there is nothing inherently dangerous about e-scooters – that is, if you always wear the appropriate protection, ride sensibly and follow the laws of the road. Nevertheless, a study that was commissioned by the Department for Transport in 2022 found that casualties from e-scooter journeys were five times higher than those for traditional bicycles, with a total of five per cent of e-scooter riders reporting that they’d been in a collision over the past year.
However, the Department for Transport identified the most common reason for an e-scooter accident as user error, due to the new nature of this mode of transport, with the majority of injuries being minor and caused by a lack of familiarity. Arguably the most dangerous element of e-scooters is the integral battery, which some fire brigades have described as a serious ignition hazard. Buyers are urged to obtain their e-scooter from a reputable seller and not modify the powertrain in any way, ensuring not to cover the battery in order to avoid overheating.
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