E-scooters are everywhere it seems – even though they really shouldn’t be anywhere, or only a few places.
As we have reported several times, the only e-scooters that are allowed to be on roads are those in the Transport for London (TfL) trial, which covers a few London boroughs including Southwark. Any scooter that is not part of this trial can only be used on private land.
But you wouldn’t know it from the sheer number of e-scooters on roads, pavements and seemingly everything in between. A few weeks ago a teenage boy was even seen on a scooter calmly going against the flow of traffic on New Cross Road at rush hour.
As the new study we reported on this week argues, the rules about e-scooters appear to be routinely flouted at the moment. So should we make new ones? The report by the Centre for London, which admittedly was sponsored by two e-scooter companies, argues that they should be legalised across the capital to improve safety and cut emissions.
‘Legalise e-scooters everywhere’ says new report – despite safety concerns
There have been three fatal incidents involving e-scooters in London this year, according to TfL figures. One was related to an accident in Bermondsey this summer. Other accidents include a little girl being seriously injured in Camberwell and a man being hurt in a collision in Rotherhithe. Any death or accident is tragic; but to put them in context there have been more than 165,000 trips since TfL’s trial began this year.
Or instead of making new rules, should we be enforcing current regulations more effectively? The government put out a call to the private sector this week asking for innovative ideas to help police e-scooters that are used for illegal purposes more effectively – including bringing them to a stop safely and making stationary scooters incapable of moving off.
Whatever happens, the new rules need to be made clear to everyone who uses e-scooters and enforced consistently and regularly – because at the moment, it feels like a free-for-all.