E-scooters: Anne McIntosh calls for clarity on rules
E-scooters should be banned to improve public safety, a new poll of Express.co.uk readers has found. Electric scooters are set to be removed from the streets of Kent following safety concerns. The pilot scheme in Canterbury has been terminated after an 80-year-old woman was knocked over by a rider on the pavement.
In July, Sarah Carter, 80, a retired university librarian, suffered significant injuries including a broken wrist, cracked jaw and broken cheekbone.
She said: “Another elderly person could have quite easily been even more seriously injured or even killed.”
Kent County Council refused to renew the e-scooter contract with provider Bird, which began in November 2020 and had already been extended twice.
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E-scooters are set to be banned in Canterbury (Image: Getty)
Councillor David Brazier, Kent County Council’s cabinet member for transport overseeing the trial, said: “I decided to truncate it before someone was seriously hurt.”
The trial scheme will be reduced to a single route by November and terminated by December 1.
A spokesperson for Bird, the firm that operates the scooters, said they were “clearly very disappointed with this decision”.
They added that the young man riding the scooter which hit Ms Carter was immediately identified and blocked from using the service.
The Department for Transport has set up 30 UK trials to encourage greener travel (Image: Getty)
In a poll that ran from 11am on Wednesday, September 14, to 4pm on Tuesday, September 20, Express.co.uk asked readers: “Should e-scooters be banned over safety concerns?”
Overall, 3,640 readers cast their votes with the vast majority, 90 percent (3,283 people), answering “yes” e-scooters should be banned over their safety.
A further 10 percent (350 people) said “no”, they should not be banned, while just seven people said they did not know either way.
In the dozens of comments left below the accompanying article, there was clear support for the banning of e-scooters.
Express.co.uk user sam the man said: “They should be banned all across the UK. How many more people have to get injured or killed before something is done about them.”
Username Paphian said: “They are a danger to the riders on the roads and a menace to others on the footpaths.
“They have no means of identification, no enforcement is in place and no insurance for the injuries they inflict on others.
“Until these issues are addressed, and there is no sign of that happening, they should be banned.”
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Bird, the firm that operates the scooters, is ‘very disappointed’ by the decision (Image: Getty)
And username Muskie310 said: “Simply yes. They are too fast for pavements and they are ridden all over the place on the roads making driving a nightmare.”
Meanwhile, other readers suggested that measures were taken to improve safety, including number plates and insurance.
Username sined said: “Yes, but if a ban is not imposed then insurance is a must, to protect the public.”
Username paddy47 wrote: “Need lights, working brakes, number plates, and riders third party insurance.”
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Another, username Tashman66, said: “I think e-scooters should be banned until we have strict rules and controls in place.
“This must include ease of identification (number plates), insurance and safety equipment (crash helmet) and separation of scooter riders and pedestrians.”
While username KeithGS said: “Don’t ban, train. There are too many scooter riders, electric and manual, who don’t follow the law or common sense.
“The only answer is to have compulsory training and licenses for all, and third-party liability insurance. It should be the person, not the machines that are licensed and insured.”
And username Dwwills said: “All mechanised vehicles should have a way of identifying, so accountability is there.”
The Canterbury pilot was one of 30 set up by the Department for Transport (DfT) to encourage greener travel.
The city has become the third to ban the means of transportation over safety concerns.
A decision on the suitability of e-scooters for public use will be made by the Government in May 2024.
In 2021, the DfT revealed that e-scooters were involved in 1,280 collisions and caused a further 1,359 casualties and nine deaths.