A report released by the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) – ‘The future of e-scooters in the UK’ – has stated that greater clarity is required on the use of e-scooters on UK roads and has outlined ten points to improve safety.
Under current UK laws, it’s illegal to ride a privately-owned e-scooter on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements. The only e-scooters that are exempt from this rule are those that are available to hire in certain boroughs of London and some other parts of the UK, including Nottingham, as part of a Government-approved trial.
A full or provisional driving licence is needed to operate an e-scooter and privately-owned ones are classed as ‘powered transporters’. This means they should abide by the same laws and regulations that apply to motor vehicles, such as insurance, tax, MOT, licence and registration.
ACSO’s The future of e-scooters in the UK report
The report released by ACSO, which surveyed experts which included solicitors, British Cycling and PACTS (the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety), stated that the Government needs to make policy decisions in respect of legalising e-scooters. It also recommends that the Government needs to build a regulatory framework around how e-scooters should be used by the general public.
According to statistics referenced by ACSO, there were 390 seriously injured and 960 slightly injured casualties involving e-scooters last year. In comparison, there were 129 (seriously injured) and 354 (slightly injured casualties) in 2020. Roughly 82% of e-scooter accidents involved privately-owned machines, which, as previously mentioned, should only be used on private land.
ACSO has outlined the following recommendations to the Government:
- Legalise the use of privately-owned e-scooters on public roads
- Increase the number of e-scooter hire schemes to collect further data surrounding safety
- Make data more available to the general public
- Improve road infrastructures to accommodate e-scooters, e.g. adapt existing cycle lanes and make other alterations to the transport network to improve e-scooter rider safety
- Provide education programmes to:
- Road users on how to co-exist with e-scooters; and
- E-scooter riders which may include theory and/or practical tests.
- Compulsory insurance for the use of e-scooters
- The registration of e-scooters to create a centralised database of owners
- Introduce a minimum age for the use of e-scooters – likely to be 16 years of age
- A legal speed limit when operating an e-scooter – likely to be 15.5mph, in-line with hire scheme e-scooters
- The introduction of safety features (e.g. indicators, headlamps, etc.) and the use of protective gear by e-scooter riders
Matthew Maxwell Scott, Executive Director of ACSO, commented that without a framework:
“…those involved in e-scooter accidents have to deal with legal grey areas. It is very difficult to know if they can be compensated for losses that arise from their accident with vehicles not officially allowed to even be on the roads. It makes the claims process too complex and impractical as e-scooter use rises. Legalisation should require at least third-party insurance for e-scooter riders so that the infrastructure of claims and injury management can be created to support them. Thousands of people are using these machines on our roads illegally; that needs to change, and fast.”
E-scooter injury compensation claims
There are a number of circumstances in which a person is likely to have grounds to bring an e-scooter injury claim. These include:
- If someone has been injured by a motor vehicle while riding an e-scooter and the person at fault for the incident is the person operating the vehicle.
- If a person has been injured as a pedestrian by an e-scooter that was rented as part of one of the UK’s hire schemes. The organisation that hires out the e-scooter should already have insurance in place, which makes it easier for an injured person to pursue a claim.
- If someone is injured by a privately-owned e-scooter. Under current laws, it’s not likely that the owner of the e-scooter will be insured, as riding a privately-owned e-scooter on public roads is illegal. However, at the time of writing, if a person is injured by a privately-owned e-scooter, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) may be able to help them recover compensation for their injuries.
What can you do if you’ve been injured in an accident involving an e-scooter?
As with nearly all motor accidents, there are certain things a person can do at the time of the incident to make sure that they have everything required should you have to make a claim. These things include, but are not limited to:
- Taking photographs of the accident, including what caused it and the damage to any vehicles involved.
- Obtaining the details of the e-scooter driver and any witnesses to the accident, including their names, addresses and telephone numbers.
- Getting in touch with the Police and reporting the incident as soon as practicable.
- Obtaining specialist legal advice at the outset. From the date of the accident, an injured person will have three years to bring a claim and, if this window is missed, it’s unlikely they will be able to make a claim. There are only very limited circumstances when the Courts will allow a claim to be brought out of time.
How can we help?
If you have any questions in relation to the topics discussed in this article, please contact a member of our expert Personal Injury team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
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