Bumps in the road: an update on e-scooters

Published 23 septiembre 2021

Since June 2020, the Government has allowed trial use of e-scooters across the country, and dozens of local authorities have taken the opportunity to partake in the trials. Outside these trials, all e-scooter use on public roads is illegal.

The House of Commons Library recently published a report on e-scooters that looks at the impact of their increased use and the trials currently underway. View the report here.

The report provides an assessment of the potential benefits of e-scooter use, which the authors say include:

• easing street congestion
• providing transportation options for the less physically able
• reducing pollution

The report also outlines the potential drawbacks, which largely focus on questioning the accuracy of the proposed benefits. For example, critics, which include the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), click here for their policy paper, point out that the demographics of e-scooter riders means car and bus use is not as positively affected as was hoped, and, in fact, their use instead reduces active travel (walking and biking). Additionally, the short lifespan of e-scooters means any environmental benefits are not realised.

The report incorporates PACTS’s compilation of all known accidents in the UK involving e-scooters since 2019, this includes incidents involving both legally and illegally used devices. The latest data for 2021 to mid-August includes 126 injury-collisions within the UK, in which there were 10 fatal and 56 serious injuries.

The majority of injuries and all fatalities have been suffered by e-scooter riders. At least 30% of the serious injuries were head injuries, again mostly to riders. Despite this, there is no legal requirement for riders to wear helmets. We hope the government will reconsider this policy decision in light of the data.

At least 30 (24%) of incidents have resulted in injuries to other road users. Of the road users who were injured by e-scooters, several were small children. Two three year olds sustained broken collar bones in different collisions.

In our response to the 2020 Department for Transport call for evidence on the future of mobility, we welcomed the e-scooter trials as a means of gathering data, and the data we are seeing makes for sombre reading.

We are concerned about the number of accidents involving illegally used devices. Of the 126 incidents in the PACTS data, only 18 (14%) definitely involved legal e-scooters. Thirty incidents (24%) definitely involved private, illegal scooters, and the remainder were unknown, though we suspect these were largely privately owned.

The data we are seeing as a result of growing e-scooter use also increases our concerns about the proposed changes to the Highway Code, especially the introduction of a hierarchy of road users (response here). Where will e-scooter riders sit within the hierarchy, and will those riding private devices, illegal for use on public roads, sit alongside those who use the legal and insured rental devices?

The number and severity of injuries, especially those suffered by riders, is troubling. We will continue to lobby for more government action to improve safety measures for all road users. If e-scooters are to be safely integrated into the road network, compulsory helmet usage and insurance are necessary.

DAC Beachcroft are committed to maintaining a pro-active approach to safe innovations in travel and to help our clients to engage with the future direction of travel. We will continue our hands-on approach to influencing policy development for the benefit of our clients.