Kent e-scooter trial to end

Kent County Council has decided not to further extend a ‘controversial’ trial of electric scooters, according to the Kent Online newsfeed. The news report says the pilot scheme launched in Canterbury in November 2020 for an initial 12-month period and – ‘despite public safety fears and a pedestrian being knocked down’ – has twice been extended.

Kent Online says the council has declined an invitation from the DfT to further extend the trial until May 2024, preferring instead to stick to the current end date of November 2022. With regard to the scheme’s safety record, Kent County Council (KCC) says more than 67,000 rides have been taken in Canterbury since the trial started, with just one collision recorded – which equates to a collision rate of 0.0014%.

However, Cllr David Brazier, KCC’s cabinet member for transport, told Kent Online that he decided to “truncate it before someone was seriously hurt”. Talking to Kent Online, he said: “You cannot legislate against people who will agree to use something in a certain way and then suit themselves. I tended to favour the trial going on, but it was quite obvious now accidents could have been worse than they were. As we were nearing the end of the trial, I decided to truncate it before someone was seriously hurt.

“Recently an elderly lady was quite seriously injured by one being ridden on a pedestrian area which was not allowed.”

In response, a KCC spokesperson said: “KCC and our operating partner, Bird, are continuing to collect valuable data through the Canterbury electric scooter trial to share with the DfT. In recent months Bird has introduced enhanced safety measures including a reduction of the electric scooter speeds from 15mph to 12mph. Additionally, they increased ‘Birdwatchers’ to patrol the city for pavement riding and changed their rider policy to introduce an immediate ban for any misdemeanour.

“KCC has decided to gradually reduce the number of vehicles in the trial, as well as the areas in which they operate, ahead of the trial finishing in Kent at the end of November 2022.”