Electric Scooters and Electric Bicycles: Pedestrian Safety

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

It is easy to recognise the position the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, talked about. Indeed, he talked about it in very similar terms the week before Christmas. It is primarily a matter of enforcement by chief police officers, simply because, as he says, there may or may not be a crime in relation to the use of e-scooters and e-bikes, but crimes are being committed as a consequence of using them. This debate is one of the ways of drawing it to the attention of chief police officers, so that enforcement action is appropriately taken.

[Lord Rogan (UUP)]

My Lords, despite rental e-scooters being legal for use in public places in some English cities, they remain illegal on the roads and footpaths of Northern Ireland. However, they do sometimes appear, which prompted the Police Service of Northern Ireland to take to social media before Christmas to warn that any e-scooters gifted in the Province could be used only on private land. Using his good offices, can the Minister offer an assurance that any possible change to the legal status of e-scooters in Northern Ireland will not happen without full and proper consultation with the PSNI?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I am certainly willing to commit to consultation with all the enforcement authorities on this, because it is very important, when we are able to do something about this, that the law is framed in a way that can be enforced both in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.