Grant Shapps pledges to crack down on illegal e-scooter sales

Image source, Getty Images

  • Author, Ben King
  • Role, Business reporter, 大象传媒 News

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised to 鈥渃rack down鈥 on illegal e-scooter sales in England.

He told MPs on the Commons Transport Committee approved models could be then licensed for use on public roads.

New legislation for England could be introduced in the Queen鈥檚 Speech on 10 May, Mr Shapps said.

E-scooters are widely sold and seen in towns and cities, but are currently only legal for use on private land.

鈥淚 want to crack down on the private market and make it illegal to sell e-scooters which don鈥檛 meet the regulatory standards which we will bring in,鈥 he told MPs.

E-scooters are currently only legal for use on the roads if they are hired as part of government trials, which have safety features such as speed limits of 15.5mph and automatic lights.

- including London, Newcastle, Bristol and Bournemouth - are already operating rental trial schemes.

Government figures show that there were 931 casualties involving e-scooters in the year to June 2021, and three fatalities.

None of the fatalities involved official trials, Mr Shapps said.

Mr Shapps also hinted that e-scooters which do meet government standards could soon be legalised for use on public roads in England.

鈥淲e will take powers to properly regulate and then be able to decide the usage of them,鈥 he said.

There are no standards for e-scooters at the moment because they are not legally recognised as a form of transport, he pointed out.

鈥淭he first thing to do is to set standards. How powerful can they be, how fast do they go, do they have indicators, do they have lights at night and so on," he said.

鈥淎nd the second thing to do is to hold the retailers accountable. You can make it an offence to sell one which doesn鈥檛 fit within the law.鈥

鈥淚f you go to any other country in the world鈥 you鈥檒l see that they are being used very regularly. You can鈥檛 uninvent technology,鈥 Mr Shapps added.

Edmund King, president of the AA motoring group, said the government was right to bring in regulations "rather than allowing some of our cities to be over-run like the Wild West with illegal scooters".

"Micro-mobility and e-technology can have a positive effect on movement in our cities but we must ensure that movement is safe," he said.