Santa's Sack of E-Scooters

The electric scooter has become a common sight on our roads. Are you a fan?

Love them or hate them, we’ll probably be seeing more of these after people receive a scooter for Christmas. Big retailers are selling them as a fun commuter solution to replace cars and poor bus services, and they’re proving a hit with Christmas shoppers.

Although it’s perfectly legal to walk into a shop and purchase one, it’s then illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter on our roads or pavements. Many people stopped by the police riding private scooters claim they didn’t know this.

Currently, the only e-scooters permitted on UK roads are ones you can rent as part of a government trial in about 30 locations across the country. The initial 2-year scheme which began in 2020 has now been extended to 2024.

But is the solution to change the law to allow private e-scooters to join the rentable ones in being legal on our roads?

Or should the plug be pulled on all e-scooters? 

This is clearly a cleaner transport alternative to driving a car around town. But collisions, injuries and occasional deaths demonstrate they can pose a serious risk to the riders and others.

However, current figures show the risk of collision and overall harm is currently much lower than other forms of transport.

A lot of it comes down to this current lack of legislation. There’s a real need for the law to catch up with this technology and provide a proper legal framework with speed limits, road rules and guidance on who is qualified to ride them.

Have you ever ridden one?

Do you like seeing them on our roads?