E-scooters are turning pavements into a ‘jungle’ and urgent action is needed before more lives are lost, a Tory peer said yesterday.
They are used widely and cause fear. Baroness Neville-Rolfe stated this during a House of Lords debate.
Lady Neville-Rolfe, who has previously described motorised scooters as fuelling ‘a Wild West of lawlessness’, said they should either be banned or strictly regulated.
She added: ‘It’s a pity that these problems have been allowed to develop without the Government making any attempt to set limits and boundaries. The pavements have become a jungle, and this has become an urgent matter.’
In central London, a man was seen on an electric scooter in 2019. E-scooters are turning pavements into a ‘jungle’ and urgent action is needed before more lives are lost, a Tory peer said yesterday
To reduce traffic congestion and pollution, the Government is looking at whether e-scooters should be legalized. However, e-scooters that are privately owned and operated by their owners are not allowed on public streets, pavements or cycleways. Renting trials took place in different cities around the country.
Up to June 2021 there were 882 accidents that involved e-scooters. There were 931 injuries and three deaths.
London is the worst affected. In the six-months to 2021, there were 258 accidents, compared with the nine that occurred in 2018. Last year, more than 3600 illegally used e-scooters were seized by the Metropolitan Police.
Lady Neville-Rolfe, who called the short Lords debate, said its purpose was to ask the ‘Government what plans they have for further regulating use of e-scooters given safety concerns about their use’.
Last year, the Metropolitan Police seized over 3,600 illegally used e-scooters
She added: ‘I have two possible approaches – the first would be radical and prohibit the sale of e-scooters in the UK.
‘This is a case of stopping e-scooters on public roads before more damage is done and more lives are lost. E-scooters generate fear for the citizen – both about being injured and the fear of e-scooter-based mugging.’
But she added: ‘There is a second approach – to regulate, to provide appropriate powers and penalties and to give authorities the means to enforce the law. It would need to cover speed limits, mandatory helmet wearing, a simple driving test and compulsory insurance.’
Lady Neville Rolfe warned it was becoming more difficult to regulate scooters, as the number of them increases. She said: ‘We are drifting into a bad place and failing to act.’