E-scooters are to be regulated after Department for Transport figures showed six e-scooter users were killed in crashes in England in 2023, with a further 416 people seriously injured
Riders could be forced to pass tests to use e-scooters after a spate of deaths and hundreds of serious injuries in crashes each year.
The Government is understood to be looking at regulating the vehicles amid concerns about safety on the roads. It has not made a specific announcement but a pledge to seek “legislative reform for micro mobility vehicles” was included in its recent Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan for the UK.
The latest Department for Transport (DfT) figures show six e-scooter users were killed in crashes in England in 2023. A further 416 people were seriously injured, including 343 users and 52 pedestrians. This month Arthur Mason, 15, died after suffering critical injuries when he collided with a car while riding an e-scooter on Bedford Road roundabout in Marston Moretaine.
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Another boy, Jacob Calland, 14, was killed in a horror crash after he was riding through the junction at Southmoor Road, Wythenshawe in March. Elsewhere, a groom-to-be was killed in a devastating e-scooter crash just 48 hours before he was due to marry the love of his life. Scott Catton, 54, was riding through Top Valley, Nottingham, in June, when he collided with a car door that suddenly swung open. In Grimsby, Hugo Tasker, five, needed stitches after a nasty face injury from being hit by an e-scooter in a pedestrianised zone.
Shared transport charity CoMoUK welcomed the “excellent news” and claimed it would “end years of confusion about the legal status” of e-scooters.
A study commissioned by the DfT published in December 2022 found the vast majority of residents in trial areas had witnessed users of e-scooters engaged in anti-social behaviour such as racing and performing dangerous stunts.
A Government source said: “Successive Conservative governments dragged their feet while a black market of e-scooters has been allowed to take over our streets.
“E-scooters can be a great way to get around but they must be properly regulated, safe for pedestrians as well as riders, and we must ensure they cannot clutter up our streets.
“This Government will act where the Tories failed to do so – legislating to crack down on illegal use to make our streets safe and accessible for everyone.”
It is believed regulation of private e-scooters could require riders to pass a test and obtain insurance, while manufacturers may be forced to limit the speed of their vehicles.
Sight loss charity the Royal National Institute of Blind People has previously expressed concerns over e-scooters being ridden on pavements, which could “force blind and partially sighted people to step into the road”, putting them at risk of being struck by cars.
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