From pandemic trend to high-speed hazard: this is how we tame the e-scooter wild west
18 February 2025, 08:54
In July 2020, the Government launched e-scooter rental trial schemes during the height of the pandemic as demand for alternative transport options grew.
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Away from these legal and fully insured trials, many had already purchased a private e-scooter either online or in a shop, some unaware that the use of private e-scooters on a public road was illegal. Pedestrians often complained about close passes and being unable to hear the devices approaching.
Worse still, their quiet disposition meant e-scooter and e-bike associated thefts increased, with London alone recording one robbery a day carried out by someone on an e-scooter or e-bike. It's inconceivable that police crackdowns targeting illegal e-scooters were prioritised.
Today’s research published by the UK’s largest road safety charity IAM RoadSmart shows a huge 2100% increase in the number of children aged 13-16 receiving uninsured driving endorsements (IN10s) between 2021 to 2024, most likely attributed to using an uninsured private e-scooter.
These teenagers are of an age where the DVLA needs to create a non-licence record to effectively hold this endorsement for four years. This means these kids have put themselves at a disadvantage even before they start learning to drive.
The issue for the Government irrespective of whether local trial schemes are successful is that private e-scooters are unlikely to go away. Retailers today are far better at warning buyers that they can only use their shiny new device on permitted private land, but you’ll seldomly go a day without seeing unbranded scooters darting about your nearest town or city.
It’s estimated that more than 750,000 private e-scooters have been bought: some of these will have been modified to travel at dangerously high speeds, while the standard of other imported models may vary so much that they are a fire risk when charging.
E-scooters can still be a force for good: a cost-effective, environmentally friendly way to travel and potentially the mode of choice for short commuting journeys, reducing pollution and traffic. We should embrace them, but not through the prism of the wild west.
Private e-scooters should be legalised within a strict framework. They need safe batteries that won’t catch fire, robust design, and build standards that can withstand our pothole plagued streets. They need to be speed limited and include front and rear lighting.
Moreover, riders should only be able to use them if they have some level of competency, whether through accredited assessment or other means.
The e-scooter genie is out of the bottle, and we cannot put it back. But we can give it some stabilisers.
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Nicholas Lyes is Policy & Standards Director at IAM RoadSmart, a road safety charity specialising in driver and rider training.
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