Time for a crackdown on the menace of e-scooters on our streets - Andrew Vine
The e-scooter rider hurtling through Leeds city centre the other day wasn’t stopping for anybody. Old, young, pushing a pram or disabled, everybody in pedestrianised Commercial Street was expected to get out of the way and the broad grin on the rider’s face as people jumped aside to avoid being hit spoke eloquently of what a menace e-scooters have become.
They have turned our pavements and shopping streets into places of real danger, where people are being knocked down, hurt and even killed, but virtually nothing is being done about it.
If somebody was speeding through a pedestrian precinct on a motorbike, the police would be scrambled to stop them, but e-scooters get a free ride despite arguably being a greater hazard because you can’t hear them approaching.
And they’re everywhere. In the last few years, they have gone from being a rare sight to being so common that watching out for them has become as routine as looking both ways before crossing a road.
Just what a danger they are is proven by police figures showing 10 people were killed in accidents last year and 1,484 injured.
That’s no surprise, given that these things are travelling along pavements at 15mph or even faster. It is a fair assumption that many of those hit by e-scooters were elderly or disabled and unable to move swiftly enough out of the way as one bore down on them.
Had they been victims of people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, those responsible would be hauled into court and at least some sent to prison. But because e-scooters are regarded as little more than toys, the riders causing deaths and injuries are getting away with it, despite their arrogant disregard for the safety of pedestrians whose spaces they invade.
The normalisation of them has been reinforced in Leeds by the LNER Beryl Bike hire scheme, which also provides e-scooters, allowing people to whizz away without any training or aptitude for riding one safely.
But it is the estimated 950,000 in private hands that are the real problem and one of the most disgraceful aspects of this plague on our pavements is that leading retailers are complicit in it and profiting from a dangerous illegal activity.
Last week, it emerged that Currys, Argos, Halfords and Amazon had been marketing e-scooters for commuting, with some pitches promoting them for “urban riding”.
Privately-owned e-scooters are banned from public spaces, including roads, pavements and cycle lanes, and can only be legally used on private land. Only rented e-scooters, like those provided by Beryl Bike, can be used on the roads, and those hiring them must have a driving licence.
The companies concerned said they provided legal warnings about the use of e-scooters, but once they are out of the door of a shop or delivery van, the laws are being flouted.
Police can stop and seize e-scooters, and the users risk prosecution for driving without insurance, but mostly they are not facing either losing them or being fined, despite a co-ordinated nationwide crackdown last month.
The pressure police forces are under is partially responsible for that, as are the scarcity of foot patrols in our urban areas where e-scooters are so prevalent, and the sheer numbers on the streets. If getting on for a million of them are being ridden, the police face a near-impossible task in enforcing the law.
Like the epidemic of shoplifting, this is a crime being carried out with impunity in plain sight every day of the week while the public looks on and despairs.
And criminality is undoubtedly part of the e-scooter culture. Many of the riders cover their face with a scarf, the only possible conclusion being that they want to avoid identification.
The e-scooter has become an essential part of drug dealers’ activities, allowing them to speed along pavements and alleyways safe from pursuit by police.
An internet search on how to disable speed-limiting technology on e-scooters immediately turns up detailed instructions and even video tutorials. You can bet those videos were the first thing all those masked riders turned to when they took delivery of their shiny new toy.
It is time for a crackdown, and not just by the police. As e-scooters continue to proliferate, so will the numbers of those being killed or injured by them, and the government should not stand by and do nothing about one of our worst road and pedestrian safety problems.
The answer is to ban the sale of e-scooters until a proper system for enforcing their safe use is established, including requirements for registration and insurance that would make tracking owners easier.