E-scooters in 2022

Delay in e-scooter trial

Tens of thousands of e-scooters were expected to have been sold ahead of Christmas in 2021. The number of e-scooters on the roads continues to rise yet their use remains unregulated.  I am concerned about the safety of e-scooter riders and the risks that they pose to pedestrians and other motorists, particularly with the present bad weather, inexperienced riders and lack of awareness of when and where they can be ridden.

As a recent article in The Guardian highlights, e-scooter trials which had been expected to last for 12 months are now to be prolonged until November 2022.  There is still no government legislation protecting those involved in accidents involving e-scooters.

E-scooter use

My colleague David Withers previously wrote on Passle that innocent victims could be without any remedy if involved in an accident involving an e-scooter.  

By way of reminder, the use of e-scooters is prohibited on public land and is only permitted on private land with the landowner’s permission or on public roads or cycle lanes where there is a government approved rental trial.

My colleague Kelly Lingard also wrote how that a Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Society report issued in December 2021 found that 12 people had died last year in incidents involving e-scooters.

The top permitted speed of an e-scooter is 15.5mph but the Guide Dogs charity recently commissioned independent testing that tragically shows that a pedestrian hit by an e-scooter at 15.5mph could suffer a fatal injury.

Fines

The Metropolitan Police appealed to e-scooter retailers in the run up to Christmas to be responsible in selling e-scooters.  In 2021 the Met seized 3,637 privately owned e-scooters and remained extremely concerned at the illegal use of such e-scooters on public road networks.  If somebody is caught riding on a public road they risk a fine, points on their licence and seizure of the e-scooter.

Yet tragically so many people seem to be unfamiliar with the rules around e-scooters, hampered by the lack of regulation.

Find out more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in supporting people following collisions involving e-scooters at our dedicated electric scooters section.

Tragically so many people seem to be unfamiliar with the rules around e-scooters, hampered by the lack of regulation.”