Man caught drink-driving on e-scooter handed 19-month ban
1 June 2021, 18:52
A man who was caught drink-driving while riding an e-scooter has been given a 19-month driving ban.
Unal Gokbulut failed a roadside breath test near his home in Ipswich in the early hours of 5 April, police said.
The 42-year-old admitted at an earlier hearing at Ipswich Magistrates' Court to drink-driving while using the electric scooter.
Speaking through a Turkish interpreter, he said: "It's correct. I've taken alcohol. I accept."
Suffolk Police said Gokbulut provided a breath test sample of 70 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - twice the legal limit.
He was given an interim driving ban and bailed, having denied a second charge of driving without insurance.
But at a second hearing on Tuesday, he admitted the charge of driving without insurance, a court official said.
The official said the defendant, of Hilton Road, was sentenced to a £250 fine and a 19-month driving ban for the drink-driving offence.
No separate penalty was given for the insurance matter.
E-scooters are treated as motor vehicles by the Department for Transport and are subject to the same legal requirement as other vehicles.
It is illegal to use a privately owned e-scooter on a public road, cycle lane or pavement in the UK.
The only place they should be used is on private land.
However, the government has begun trials of e-scooters in approved rental schemes.
