Scooters And One Wheels

The protection of personal e-scooters requires extra analysis earlier than legalization, says the parliamentary report

Private e-scooters should only be legalized if there is a better understanding of the safety effects of their use, according to an interim report by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Road Safety (PACT).

Their report, funded by the Road Safety Trust, has compiled evidence on the safety of e-scooters but has not yet drawn any conclusions about their legalization. Another update is expected next spring.

It is currently illegal to drive an e-scooter on public roads or sidewalks in the UK, which means you can only use an e-scooter on private land.

That hasn’t stopped people from investing in e-scooters, however, with the Bicycle Association estimating that around 360,000 were sold in 2020 last year. Data suggests there have been nine deaths from accidents involving e-scooters and many more injuries, including drivers and other road users such as motorists, since early 2021.

However, the government is looking into whether it should legalize their use on the freeway in order to reduce the number of high-polluting short-distance car journeys and traffic jams. Several countries around the world have already legalized e-scooters for this reason.

In July 2020, the government across the UK launched an e-scooter trial with around 50 local authorities implementing regulated e-scooter rental systems to collect data on their usage patterns and safety.

However, the PACT has so far come to the conclusion that there are clear safety differences between rented e-scooters and private e-scooters. Rental e-scooters work via a smartphone app, which makes it easier to implement safety measures and track their use. However, it has shown that this is not possible with private e-scooters, which poses further challenges for their legalization.

The Advisory Board will continue to work with partners to gain more insights into private e-scooters with a focus on vehicle design, speed, e-scooter user behavior and roads.

It will publish a final report early next year to offer the government further guidance on legalizing e-scooters.

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