In the UK, electric scooters are classified as “motor vehicles” by default under the Road Traffic Act 1988. This means they are subject to laws that require them to be built and used safely, including the requirement for users to have insurance, a driver`s license, license plates and helmets. Driving violations and speeding also apply. The design of electric scooters makes it difficult for them to comply with vehicle building regulations, so their use is illegal in practice on the road. Currently, they can only be used on private land with the permission of the landowner. The benefits of legalizing electric scooters are numerous if the right rules and laws are introduced and enforced. As Huw Merriman says, “Electric scooters have the potential to become an exciting and resourceful way to navigate our streets and move from place to place. If it gets people out of the car, reduces traffic jams and gets outside, great. Previously, it was obviously not illegal to buy and sell electric scooters in the UK. Halfords sells them. However, it is currently illegal to use electric scooters on public roads and property unless they are part of the government-backed electric scooter rental scheme until these new rules come into effect. While it is perfectly legal to buy, sell, own and keep an electric scooter, private electric scooters are illegal on public roads in the UK. You can only ride private electric scooters on private land with the owner`s permission.

But as we mentioned earlier, despite the UK`s new position on rental scooters, private electric scooters are still illegal on UK roads. We imagine it has to do with electric scooter insurance and taxation – it`s not like you can go confused.com and insure it, right? Private electric scooters are not allowed to be driven anywhere else in the UK than on private land. Electric scooter rental trials are underway across the country to help “inform the future legal status of electric scooters and related regulations.” In order to legally use a rental electric scooter, you need a valid full or provisional driver`s license with category “Q”. A category “AM”, “A” or “B” driver`s licence includes category “Q”. Issues like these are minor, but could be a hiccup in the smooth running of the legalization process. As is clear, the Transportation Committee and, in turn, the Department of Transport emphasize “data collected during lease trials, in addition to qualitative and quantitative evidence from other countries” in many of their decisions. If such a large demographic were left out, it would certainly leave an anomaly in the data. Data from e-scooter rental trials is undoubtedly essential for gathering “important evidence” for policy, but it also excludes any understanding of private electric scooters. As the Transport Committee noted, “the use of private electric scooters after legalisation will avoid some of the disadvantages of rental schemes, such as the fact that scooters will be left behind as `road congestion`”. But they do not negate the “concerns we highlight in this report regarding the use of road surfaces, speeding and enforcement.” While nothing is set in stone, the use of personal electric scooters is expected to be legalised, with the creation of a separate class of vehicles in UK law. This new legislation will likely include speed and weight limits, changeover restrictions, and specifications where you can safely use electric scooters. Private electric scooters remain illegal on public roads, even if you have a driver`s license.

As “the UK remains the last major European economy where e-scooters are still banned everywhere except on private land”, many people who drive e-scooters illegally have probably taken the example of other EU countries. In many European countries, getting on an electric scooter to get around like getting on the bus is so common that many people seem to think it`s the same here with the advent of rental electric scooters! “Safety is at the heart of our plans to create a regulatory framework for smaller, lighter, zero-emission vehicles, sometimes referred to as electric scooters.