Government urged to confront e-scooter issue

The Government is being urged to get on with legalising private e-scooters – if that’s what it’s minded to do – in order to enable proper regulations to be put in place that will improve safety.

In May 2022, the Government unveiled a new Transport Bill, which featured its intentions to allow the public use of privately-owned e-scooters, something which is currently banned. However in the nine months that have followed, no progress has been made.

Earlier this month, the Transport Committee revisited the ongoing question of how private e-scooters should be regulated, receiving oral evidence from a panel of experts. The panellists expressed frustration over the delay to the Transport Bill – and called for the Government to start taking action.

David Davies, executive director of PACTS, said: “Given where we are, with the Government saying they will legalise, we want them to get on with it. “They say… that there is no timetable now for the Transport Bill, so it is to be legislated on some time in the future, whenever that occurs. That is a frustration.”

Commander Kyle Gordon, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for roads policing operations, said that while he remains neutral on legalisation, he “would like regulation”. “The sooner it came in, the more helpful that would be for us”, he told the committee.

Despite their illegality, the prevalence of privately owned e-scooters on public land continues to grow.