The Department for Transport is consulting on what rules are required to allow stand-up electric e-scooters to be trialled on UK roads. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK is “on the cusp of a transport revolution” as emerging technologies are “ripping up the rulebook”.
He went on: “Our groundbreaking Future of Transport programme marks the biggest review of transport laws in a generation and will pave the way for exciting new transport technology to be tested, cementing the UK’s position as a world-leading innovator.
“This review will ensure we understand the potential impacts of a wide range of new transport types such as e-scooters, helping to inform any decisions on legalisation.”
Currently, it is illegal to use e-scooters on public roads and pavements in the UK.
The consultation covers a series of areas in relation to the safe use of e-scooters, including a minimum age for riders, speed limits, licensing, insurance and helmets.
Other topics include minimum design standards, whether they should be allowed in cycle lanes, and what powers local authorities should have to manage e-scooter hire firms.
Many people use e-scooters in the UK despite them not being allowed on public roads and pavements. The Metropolitan Police caught nearly 100 riders in London in a single week last summer.
YouTube star and TV presenter Emily Hartridge became the first person in the UK to be killed while riding an e-scooter when she was struck by a lorry in Battersea, south London, in July last year.
E-scooters will initially be trialled in four Future Transport Zones – Portsmouth and Southampton; the West of England Combined Authority (WECA); Derby and Nottingham; and the West Midlands.
Local authorities in the areas will contract firms to provide e-scooters available for hire on the streets.
The government will need to amend legislation before the pilot schemes can begin, meaning it will be several months until e-scooters are allowed on UK roads.
Trials of various types of transport innovation in the Future Transport Zones will be supported with £90 million of government funding.