The Government has been urged to legalise e-scooters in an open letter to transport secretary Louise Haigh.
The open letter, issued by the charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK), aims to address the challenges posed by unregulated e-scooter use on public roads.
The letter highlights the additional environmental benefits of this move, emphasizing that e-scooter legislation could support the UK’s efforts to achieve net zero and improve air quality, while also enhancing public health.
On the topic, the chief executive of CoMoUK, Richard Dilks has said “By clearing up the ongoing uncertainty around their status on the UK’s roads, ministers can give this cheap, flexible and green mode of transport a long-term future.”
He continued: “Legalisation would improve safety standards and clear away the negative perceptions of e-scooters that have arisen largely due to the total lack of regulation.”
Shared e-scooter schemes have proven popular in trial areas, with over 3 million users embarking on 48 million journeys since trials began in June 2020. Understanding that it is crucial to achieving legal status, Dilks is keen to see existing trials expanded and new trials implemented across the UK:
“The new transport secretary, […] has told her department that she wants to ‘move fast and fix things’. We say: excellent, let’s start by expanding shared e-scooter trials and, ultimately legalising e-scooters.”
Despite their popularity, an increase in collisions and fatalities has raised safety concerns around their use. However, research from CoMoUK suggests serious incidents are uncommon.
It is currently against the law to ride e-scooters on public roads in the UK but, unregulated as they are, they are still widely used. CoMoUK stresses that legalisation would facilitate the development of technical and safety standards that e-scooter vehicles would have to comply with.
