Electric Scooters: Crime Prevention

(asked on 8th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) local authorities, and (2) police forces, to prevent the illegal (a) purchase, and (b) use, of e-scooters in England.


Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford Portrait
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This question was answered on 22nd June 2021

Legislation was amended in July 2020 to allow for rental e-scooter trials around England which will run for 12 months with the trial period beginning in each area as and when e-scooters become available to the public. It remains illegal to use privately owned e-scooters on the road as they do not meet the requirements of stringent construction regulations, registration, road tax, insurance and MOT testing.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter as they can be used legally on private land. However, under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled.

Electric scooters have to abide by the same road traffic legislation as mopeds and motorcycles. To drive or ride any motor vehicle without permission onto a footpath, common land, moorland or land of any description that does not form part of the road is an offence under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. To drive or ride a powered scooter on a pavement, as with pedal cycles, is an offence under section 72 of the Highway Act 1835.

Enforcement of road traffic laws on the illegal use of e-scooters is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers who will decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands. Where e-scooters amount to anti-social behaviour, then local authorities make byelaws/injunctions and Anti-Social Behaviour orders to curb the misuse of vehicles.

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