Sussex Police confiscated more than 100 privately owned electric scooters last year and have seized more than 60 so far this year.
The number of e-scooters seized – it is illegal to ride them on roads and pavements – emerged at a police performance and accountability meeting on Friday (13 September).
Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne told Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Pete Gardner that her office continued to receive letters complaining about e-scooters from across the county.
ACC Gardner said that privately owned electric scooters could be used legally on private land but not on public roads, bridleways or pavements.
Ms Bourne said that she and many others saw e-scooters on the road every day and asked what powers officers had to deal with illegal use.
ACC Gardner said that e-scooters were classified as motor vehicles but were not registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Drivers could not get insurance and the police could seize e-scooters if they were being used in public without insurance.
Last year, he said, 107 scooters were confiscated and up to the end of July this year the force had seized 60.
ACC Gardner said that the force operated a “two strikes” policy if a child under 16 had a scooter.
In the first instance, officers would speak to the parents but a child caught a second time would face prosecution. Adults were prosecuted for a first offence.
He also said that people should report illegal e-scooter use on the non-emergency 101 phone number unless a crime was taking place, say, the theft of a mobile phone. In such cases, people should call 999.
Mrs Bourne said: “You’ve got to catch them first – and that’s the hardest thing. The public will say: ‘If I phone 101, they’re gone by now.’
“What is the point of the public phoning it in on 101, the non-emergency number because by the time someone picks the information up, the personal scooter will be long gone?
“Would you say if it’s a regular occurrence in a particular location, you can do something about it?”
ACC Gardner said that it was always valuable to receive reports as the information was used for intelligence.
He said: “Our neighbourhood officers really know their areas well so if they’re getting multiple reports in a particular area of e-scooters and a description of an individual, it won’t take them long to recognise who that individual is.
“Then they can take proactive action against that individual so the data may not get them then and there but we will take action.”
He also said: “It is very challenging when someone is on an e-scooter to capture them without causing them harm.”
ACC Gardner said that reputable dealers would inform buyers that they can only be used on private land and inform them about potential issues with batteries exploding
The fire risk has led to a ban on e-bikes and e-scooters at eight tower blocks owned by Brighton and Hove City Council.
Barely scratching the surface. Let’s please not pretend the police actually this issue seriously. I see dozens of thee things every single day and never seen the police stop anyone.
Not forgetting all the unlicensed electric motor bikes, and eBikes with throttles as well.
60 in nine and a bit months. How many are being used in just Brighton? A menace on the pavements and no regard for safety on the roads and continually going through red lights.
Love and let live. Also, grow up… Same thing is said about cyclists, also false accusations.
Live and let live. Also, grow up… Same thing is said about cyclists, also false accusations.
This is a clear example of where the current law is out of touch with what people choose to do.
Whilst it’s wrong for these scooters to be used unsafely, it’s also wrong for the Police to have to waste their limited time on chasing riders.
We’ve probably all seen some teenage nutter driving one of these E-scooters at speed, usually without wearing any safety gear but happily staring at their phone as they weave from lane to lane, or else with earphones on to limit their hearing. That’s about as safe as skateboarding on a motorway.
But the electric technology is there for these scooters to be an affordable and less-polluting form of transport, and so it’s time the law was changed to regulate their legal use.
There’s a guy living in a flat near me, who uses his scooter to commute to work each day. He wears a helmet and sticks to the cycle lanes where possible, plus his E-scooter has lights.
The consumers have already voted with their wallets. We’ve already got electric assisted bikes which zoom past me in the cycle lane – I’m on a push bike but these Ebikes are clearly faster than the 15mph limit their power unit is supposed to stick to.
Time for a legal rethink methinks. These bikes and scooters can be a menace, especially in an urban setting, but it’s time the law defined when they are that menace, and when they are unsafe to use.
There’s also the battery safety issue, but that too needs better regulation – just as we already have for power tool batteries.
I agree.
E-scooters are a much more viable option for many people looking for a convenient, clean and low cost means of transport. The scooters aren’t the issue it is the misuse of them by some people. The rules need amending and some sort of system for registering should exist
Legal e-scooters used on the road are no threat to pedestrians. But like bicycles if ridden fast on pavements lead to tragedies. Deaf, blind and mobility impaired pedestrians cannot get out of the way. They fall between stools as they are motorized transport but should have their own classification. I am sure that some sort of liability insurance would not be expensive, but not available as the act of using a privately owned one is currently illegal. The change in the law to allow rental ones was highly conditioned, and included liability insurance.
The electric bikes that go past my house (on the road at least) at 50-60 MPH piloted by young men with no helmets on the other hand are flouting the law. These should not be mixed up with scooter or legal e-bike legislation.
This is correct.
Very good and articulated comment as usual, Billy. I am in complete agreement.
The cycle lane is for cycles not e-scooters, skateboards, inline skates, pedestrians, dog walkers, people pushing baby in a buggy etc. The clue is in the description. I think sometimes I’d be safer cycling on the road not the “cycle lane”.
Yeah but cycle lanes came in before ebikes and escooters etc. You’ve basically got 3/4 avenues for moving along the street. The pavement, the cycle lane and the road and maybe a bus lane so whatever method of transport you’re using should fit as closely as possible to the general use of each of those. You can’t have separate lanes for pedestrians, bikes, skateboards, ebikes, escooters, buses, taxis, scooters, cars, vans, lorries etc, there just isn’t enough space. Sorry TP but you need to learn to share with the other kids and move with the times
The previous government promised legislation on e scooters years ago and nothing happened. We live in a bizarre scenario where you can rent a scooter but not own one. Legislation does not need to be complex, riders must at least have a provisional license, scooters should be capped at a maximum 15.5mph, one rider per scooter and obviously riders must follow the highway code. A cheap and clean mode of transport, easier for many to store the genie is out of the bottle and successive governments just ignoring it will simply not work.
Quite so.
Maybe also clean up Deliveroo motor scooter riders driving on the pavements, like at the bottom of Preston Street.
One nearly killed me last week coming around the corner on the pavement.
Deliveroo is a menace
E-scooters should be a regulated form of transport. It’s an almost perfect urban solution, when managed and catered for properly.
My first way of tackling that would be to disallow commercial driving on provisional licenses. Let’s start by ensuring their driving is up to a standardised grade.
A lot of bad driving I see seems to stem from a lack of basic road knowledge. Not the whole picture, of course, but I think an easy one to improve.
60 so far! They should concentrate on the Lewes/London road areas – they could do that in a day. Also they are an unhealthy form of transport as the user gets no exercise whatsoever unlike walking, cycling or even using a skate board. All they do is stand on them and occasionally fall over..
Unhealthy form of transport? So is using the bus, driving or using an ebike. Many who use an escooter use them not as a form of excersise but a cheap form of commuting, (when walking is simply not an option).
I didn’t compare these dangerous devises to public transport or motor cars. I simply pointed out that the user receives no exercise whilst using one. If they’re too lazy that they cannot walk then they could try cycling but presumably that’s too much exercise as well…
Your logic is flawed. Are commuters lazy for getting a bus? Most using scooters are not looking for exercise they are like other commuters just looking to get from a to b. Perhaps cycling is just not their thing and they don’t want to arrive at work hot and sweaty. It’s not lazy to use a scooter it just, for some a really convenient, clean and cheap mode of transport. Legislation would make it safer for everyone
People want to use them. Government and council should work out how they can integrate with other pedestrian, cycle and road users properly by looking at other cities around the world who’ve gone through the pain and implement ASAP.
Agreed.
Absolutely – the attitude of simply banning them is simply not working. Legislation that makes if safer for riders and other road users is the logical way forward.
I notice that cycle delivery cycles peddled and electric are increasingly using footpaths to deliver in Brighton.
Will individual cyclists or delivery companies be responsible for collisions between pedestrians and the vehicle?