Private e-scooters to be made legal on UK roads

David Ross, Editor
Wed, 20 Nov 2024

The government is set to legalise the use of private e-scooters on the UK roads but safety campaigners are urging caution and calling for speed limiters.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh acknowledged that introducing regulations for electric scooters is "clearly necessary."

Currently, private e-scooters are not permitted on roads or pavements in the UK, though they have become increasingly common, especially in urban areas.

Since July 2020, rental e-scooter trials have been underway in various towns and cities across England.

In response to a question from the Transport Select Committee in the House of Commons about plans to regulate e-scooter use, Haigh said: "We absolutely intend to legislate. It's clearly needed and it's not acceptable that this issue has been left unresolved for so long."

Haigh emphasized that e-scooters could play a significant role in an integrated transport strategy, particularly benefiting those with accessibility needs.

However, she also highlighted concerns, particularly regarding parking and street clutter, stressing the importance of analysing the journeys e-scooters are replacing and their broader impact.

According to Department for Transport data, 11 riders and one pedestrian died in e-scooter-related incidents in Britain in 2022. Additionally, 1480 injuries were reported, including 1138 riders, 232 pedestrians and 50 cyclists.

Safety charity IAM Roadsmart has welcomed the move but urged caution.

"We know that around half of all casualties involving e-scooters are outside of trial areas, which demonstrates the ‘wild west’ nature of private e-scooter misuse that is happening on our roads and pavements," says IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy and Standards Nicholas Lyes.

"While we cautiously welcome plans to legalise their use, it must be accompanied by minimum type approval device standards, speed limiters and proposals for riders to have a minimum level of competency prior to using these devices on the road," he adds.

Ask HJ

Do you need to have a licence to use an e-scooter?

If you were banned from the road could you still use an e-scooter?

No, you need to have a driving licence to use an e-scooter and currently you can only legally ride an e-scooter on public roads in England as part of the Government trials. E-scooter operators taking part in the trials will perform a licence check before letting someone hire an e-scooter.

Answered by Sarah Tooze

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