The wait goes on for some solid direction on the future of e-scooters in the UK. Latest data reveals an average of 26 people a week were harmed in collisions involving e-scooters in 2024. Six people were killed.
E-scooter rental schemes on UK city streets have now been around for several years, and will stay until at least May 2028 after the Government extended the rental trials last summer. In its recently-published Road Safety Strategy, the Government reiterated that the extension will expand the evidence base to inform future regulation.
In the UK private e-scooters and their users are still trapped in a murky area of UK law – they are legal to buy, but illegal to use in public roads. It is a point to which some people seem oblivious, given we can all see them zipping around towns and cities up and down the country.
The then-Conservative Government in 2022 promised a tightening of UK regulation around e-scooters in the Queen’s Speech, but there was no sign of any legislation and no further mention in the King’s Speech the following year. The rental trials have since been extended and the police have cracked down on private e-scooters being ridden illegally through confiscation. The Road Safety Strategy acknowledges the fact that e-scooters are illegal by default, despite their widespread use, and that this has been left unaddressed for too long.
Public attitudes towards e-scooters are mixed. A recent poll by Ipsos shows 61 per cent of people believe e-scooters negatively impact pedestrian safety – including 81 per cent of adults aged between 55 and 75. Almost half of British adults would support making it legal to ride private e-scooters on cycle lanes, while only 20 per cent would support the same on pavements.
APIL would welcome legislation which makes these handy, eco-friendly micromobility vehicles safer for both riders and the public as a whole. Riders should undergo a driving proficiency test if they don’t hold a provisional or full driving licence. Helmets should also be made compulsory, and insurance must be introduced so that when things do go wrong and someone is injured, they have a route to redress to help them put their lives back on track so far as possible.
At the minute it feels like any progress on both safety and regulation has paused while the picture is assessed. It is an interesting contrast to the approach of our neighbours in Paris, where the dangers of rental e-scooters were addressed with a swift ban in 2023. A city-wide referendum saw nearly 90 per cent vote for the ban.
We hope the data from the rental trials is being put to good use in order to bring forward some robust regulation to protect the public. With injuries and deaths on the rise, the status quo cannot remain.
Matthew Tuff
APIL president