Legalise e-scooters, says Transport Committee

In a report published today, E-scooters: pavement nuisance or transport innovation, the Committee says that e-scooters have the potential to offer a low cost, accessible and environmentally friendly alternative to the private car.

Whilst supporting the introduction and use of e-scooters, the Committee advises that current rental trials and any plans for legalisation should not be to the detriment of pedestrians, particularly disabled people.

The Committee calls for robust enforcement measures to eliminate pavement use of e-scooters, which the report says is dangerous and anti-social. If the Government supports the Committee’s recommendation and decides to legalise privately owned e-scooters, the law should clearly prohibit their use on pavements and ensure that such enforcement measures are effective in eliminating this behaviour.

The Transport Committee further caveats its report by calling for a sensible and proportionate regulatory framework for the legal use of electric scooters, based firmly on evidence gained from current rental trials and from other countries. The current rental trials should allow important evidence and data to determine the best way to legally incorporate both rental and privately owned e-scooters within the UK’s transport mix.

The Department for Transport must also encourage the use of e-scooters to replace short car journeys rather than walking and cycling. The Committee warns that it would be counter-productive if an uptake in e-scooters, whether rental or private, primarily replaced more active and healthy forms of travel and calls for the Department to continue promoting active travel as a key policy.

The Chair of the Transport Committee, Huw Merriman MP, said:

“The UK remains the last major European economy where e-scooters are still banned to use anywhere except on private land and their use on UK roads is currently illegal. That is still a matter of surprise to many, as we see the numbers grow on our streets alongside the Department’s permitted rental trials.

“e-scooters have the potential to become an exciting and ingenious way to navigate our streets and get from place to place. If this gets people out of the car, reducing congestion and exercising in the open air, then even better. We support the Government’s desire to include e-scooters in the UK’s transport mix and the current rental trials will provide a crucial evidence base for future legislation. In order to learn how e-scooters impact on safety, the environment and people’s journey choices, the trials need to be accessible to a wide range of people and take place in a variety of different settings. We understand why driving licences were required for the trials, but it is a shame that key audiences were excluded at this stage.

“Most importantly, we heard first-hand about the impact of e-scooters on pavements. We need to ensure that their arrival on our streets doesn’t make life more difficult for pedestrians, and especially disabled people. Before proceeding with plans to legalise the use of e-scooters, local authorities and Government must use the trials to monitor this closely, put enforcement measures in place and ensure they are effective in eliminating this behaviour.”

To ensure that any regulations governing e-scooters are effective in providing a safe environment for both riders and other road users, the Committee makes the following recommendations to Government:

• If the Government legalises e-scooters, users should not be required to have a driving licence for either rental or private use.
• The Department should monitor the number and types of collisions during the trials to determine future insurance requirements for rental and privately owned e-scooters.
• Local authorities should determine the speed of e-scooters in their areas as a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not work.
• The DfT should use the data from the trials to determine which e-scooter design requirements are appropriate for UK roads.
• Helmet use should be encouraged for rental and privately owned e-scooters.
• The DFT along with local authorities should monitor the trials for problems emerging with abandoned e-scooters leading to ‘street clutter’.
• There are valid environmental concerns relating to the lifetime of the scooters and the processes used to recharge their batteries. DfT should closely monitor the environmental impact of e-scooters and if needed, consider introducing stricter requirements around sustainability.

Further information:

In March 2020 the Department for Transport launched a consultation to explore whether micro-mobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, should be legally permitted on the road, and if so what vehicle and user requirements would be appropriate.

E-scooter trials would have taken place from early 2021 in four ‘future transport zones’ as part of the Department for Transport’s consultation on the Future of Transport Regulatory Review. The trials were planned to run over 12 months, with findings available from 2022. In light of the pandemic, the Secretary of State brought the trials forward to July 2020 and all local areas in England, Scotland and Wales were eligible to participate.

E-scooter rental trials have been already announced in four parts of the country (Tees Valley, Milton Keynes Borough, Northamptonshire, and the West Midlands), with more expected to be confirmed.

• Further details of the e-scooter inquiry, available here.
• The predecessor Transport Committee’s report on Active Travel was published in July 2019. The Government’s Response is here.
• The Transport Committee was one of six commissioning committees of the Climate Assembly UK, which published its full report in September 2020. Chapter 3 considers how we travel on land. Read more here.