The UK needs to deal with its e-scooter problem

E-scooters could be a vital tool to eliminate unnecessary car journeys, cutting emissions and journey times. Unfortunately, the UK is the last major European nation to not allow them to be ridden on most public roads. They've proliferated illegally anyway, and are now an issue the country can no longer afford to drag its heels on.

The benefits of e-scooters are obvious: They’re cheap to buy and maintain, cost very little to run and have a small physical and environmental footprint. In 2022, the Fraunhofer Institute found that e-scooters contributed to a drop in carbon emissions in several cities that embraced micromobility.The raw materials that go into making one EV could be used for more than one hundred e-scooters. Collective Mobility UK (CoMoUK), the body representing the shared transport industry, found that 21 percent of all shared e-scooter trips in the UK were made in place of using a car. Richard Dilks, CEO of CoMoUK said that e-scooters “plumb directly into so many policy goals that [the] government has,” most notably its need to reach net zero emissions by 2050: CoMoUK’s research indicates more than half of all car trips could be replaced by e-bikes or scooters, eliminating one megaton of CO2 emissions per year.

Unfortunately, the UK does not have a vehicle class addressing personal transportation outside the realm of bikes, motorcycles and cars. E-scooters, Segways, “hoverboards,” gas-powered kick scooters, u-wheels (like the OneWheel) and electric unicycles are all in this gray zone. In the UK, they’re given the umbrella term of “Powered Transporters,” but have no strict legal definition. Consequently, they’re legally defined as motor vehicles, but because they lack most of the key features of a motor vehicle — which includes both a lack of safety equipment like seatbelts and airbags as well as the owner paying road tax, having insurance and being licensed to drive one — it’s illegal to use them on public roads and sidewalks. The absurdity of the situation is made worse given that e-bikes have fairly minimal regulations on speed and motor output power — and have consequently become ubiquitous.

Despite this classification issue, it’s legal to buy e-scooters at a number of major retailers. All a seller has to do is provide “accurate information about the legal restrictions on their use” — that they're only allowed to be used on private land — and they’re in the clear. Take this retail listing for the Pure Air 5, which even advises users it’s good for “quick trips,” “comfortable rides” and “daily use.” It’s only at the very bottom of the page, hidden below the cart pop-up, that the disclaimer saying they cannot be used on public highways, is displayed. As you can imagine, technically illegal use of e-scooters on roadways is rampant.

There is no accurate data on precisely how rampant, but the UK government believes more than one million privately-owned e-scooters are used on public roads. These e-scooters, not part of a sharing scheme and therefore illegal, are nevertheless used with impunity. The London Assembly believed that, in 2021, there were more than 150,000 privately-owned e-scooters in London alone. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police, the force covering greater London, seized only 1,067 e-scooters between 2021 and mid-2024. It’s an all too common sight to see people riding these scooters despite the risks, which are severe. It varies between police forces, but riders caught face losing their e-scooter, a fine of up to £300 (around $400) and having at least six penalty points put on their driving licence. Easy availability and limited enforcement mean the rules on e-scooter use isn’t clear in the public’s mind. Last year, the UK government published data showing almost half the people polled incorrectly believed private e-scooter use on public highways was legal.

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In 2020, as part of its strategy to broaden public transit options during the COVID lockdowns, the UK authorized a series of short-term e-scooter trials. As well as offering people low-carbon ways of traveling that didn’t involve sharing other people’s air, the trials would inform how the government regulated e-scooters. These trials were run by sharing companies in 30 areas, which were subject to speed limits, age restrictions and were only allowed to be ridden on roads or cycle paths, rather than walkways. Many companies insisted only riders with driving licenses were allowed to participate.

Two years later, the country stated its intention to classify and regulate powered transporters at the start of that legislative period. But the collapse of the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet meant it was put on hold. Then the UK went through three Prime Ministers in the following three years, and micromobility has not been a priority for any of them so far. In fact, the only thing the government has done is repeatedly extend the deadline for the trial operations — most recently to May 2026. And that’s where we’re at. Late last year, transport secretary Louise Haigh said that the government "will look to legislate" at some point in the future. The earliest that could happen is at the next legislative session, which would not begin until the fall of 2025. Naturally, the passing of such a law would not be a swift process, and would likely be held up as e-scooters are their own front in the culture war.

The UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents (RoSPA) believes, not unsurprisingly, that the legal regime should impose strong safety standards and vehicle checks. It also advocates a system to train riders, which has to be completed before they are permitted to operate an e-scooter. Additionally, given its concern for other users, it wants to see safe and accessible parking implemented in order to prevent the issue of e-scooters dumped in the street.

I myself would go further, insisting upon mandatory helmet use, a licensing system and the requirement for insurance. I’d like e-scooters to be able to share segregated routes alongside bicycles rather than forcing riders to vie with traffic. It would also be beneficial if drivers were potentially at risk of additional penalties to encourage them to further respect e-scooters. It would also, perhaps, be worth unifying the legal regime for powered transports and e-bikes since they are all similarly capable of traveling at injurious speed.

The one thing I wouldn’t advocate is a cap on maximum power output given the risk it may hamper e-scooter development. After all, the UK has plenty of steep hills that e-bikes, capped at 250W maximum output, simply will not climb even at full power. This is why a cap on overall speed, rather than power — for every device in this category — since it’ll enable manufacturers to at least make sure their vehicles can manage elevation changes. This is a minor issue, but one that’s likely to get lost in the clamoring when uninformed voices get to shout louder than the rest.

The UK government doesn’t know how many privately-owned e-scooters are on its roads, but it is starting to collect data about its effects. The Department for Transport published statistics through to the end of 2023, but admitted the numbers aren’t entirely accurate. Still, the trends are obvious: Accident tallies spike each summer, mostly taking place between 4 and 6pm – during the evening rush hour. And young people are being injured in far greater numbers — males between the ages of 10 and 29 make up the majority of those affected. Earlier this year, BBC News reported two children, aged 16 and 9, died as a result of their e-scooter being struck by a car. In short: the lack of regulation hasn't just stunted an environmentally preferable alternative to cars, it seems to also be putting young riders at risk.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-uk-needs-to-deal-with-its-e-scooter-problem-133056724.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-uk-needs-to-deal-with-its-e-scooter-problem-133056724.html?src=rss