An increase in The numbers of children aged 13-16 being convicted of motoring insurance offences is being blamed on the growth in unlicensed e-scooter use. One of the offences committed when using a private e-scooter on the road is riding without insurance. So the boom in scooter use comes with a 2100% increase in the number of under-16s penalised for uninsured driving since 2021.
The IAM Roadsmart safety charity analysed traffic offense data and found that 375 children had been issued an IN10 endorsement – the police code for “using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks” in 2024, up from just 17 in 2021. Of course, the big penalty will come when these kids try to insure a car or motorbike and have to declare the previous offence.
IAM RoadSmart director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said: “The number of children caught driving or riding without insurance is shocking, and is likely to be down to those riding e-scooters. Although riding a privately-owned e-scooter on public roads is illegal, it’s estimated that more than 750,000 private e-scooters have been bought.”
And Lyes makes the point that legislation on e-scooters is long overdue. “The government needs to urgently bring forward legislation, which must include minimum type approval device standards, speed limiters and proposals for riders to have a minimum level of competency.”