The Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership is urging parents to consider the potential long-term consequences of letting their teenager or child ride an e-scooter.
As well as it being illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter in any public place, the partnership is stressing that it could affect a young person’s ability to apply for a driving licence when they reach the legal age.
This is because e-scooters are classed as motor vehicles under the Road Traffic Act 1988, which opens up riders to a raft of offences as they need to have a driving licence and insurance to ride them.
This also means if e-scooter are to be made legal, the minimum age allowed to ride one would be 16 years old.
The partnership says there is a long list of offences that could be committed by e-scooter riders. These include:
- No insurance – £300 fine 6 points on licence
- No driving licence – £100 fine 3 points on licence
- Using mobile phone or other handheld device whilst riding – £200 fine and 6 points on licence
- Riding through a red light – £100 fine 3 points on licence
- Riding on the pavement – £50 fine
Additionally, the partnership is keen to express that e-scooter riders under 17-years-old commit the same offences as adults and will be treated the same.
This means that if a young rider is prosecuted for no insurance the six points will be held on a ‘ghost’ licence by the DVLA. When they reach the legal age to apply for a driving licence the points are added and they could be instantly disqualified.
The points are ‘spent’ after three years and they can then reapply for a licence. However, this could have an impact on their insurance for years to come.
Inspector Jem Mountford, Warwickshire Police, said: “As well as being illegal, there are real concerns for the safety of e-scooter riders and other road users including people with sight loss, the young, old and disabled.
“Because they are illegal we believe the number of collisions and injuries involving e-scooters could be under-reported in Warwickshire.
“Nationally, provisional data from 2022 shows there were 1,349 collisions involving e-scooters resulting in 1,437 casualties and 12 fatalities.
“This is a real concern and could be just the tip of the iceberg.”
Comment on this story