London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

Rental e-scooters to be legal on roads by Saturday

Rental e-scooters will become legal on roads in Great Britain from Saturday, in a bid to ease pressure on public transport amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the first rentable e-scooters could be available next week, as it published guidance for e-scooter-for-hire firms.

The vehicles are banned on pavements, will be limited to 15.5mph and it is recommended that riders wear helmets.

Privately owned e-scooters remain illegal on roads.

Under the new rules set out by the DfT, local authorities and devolved administrations in England, Scotland and Wales can allow or run e-scooter sharing schemes in their areas as part of 12-month trials.

Riders will need a full or provisional car, motorcycle or moped licence to use the vehicles, and they must be aged 16 or over.

It is hoped the first rentable e-scooters could be up and running in Middlesbrough from early next week, said BBC transport correspondent Tom Burridge.

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said the trials would allow the government to test whether e-scooters could offer "clean and cost-effective travel that may also help ease the burden on the transport network, provide another green alternative to get around and allow for social distancing".

Some 50 local authorities have expressed an interest to the government in having e-scooter trials.

Scooter-sharing schemes have previously faced criticism over dumped scooters, which have been a problem in Paris, so local authorities will need to establish rules to avoid vehicles being abandoned on pavements.

The DfT said in a statement that the regulations only cover rental schemes "to avoid a flood of poor-quality scooters onto the streets".

E-scooter firms vying for licences in UK towns and cities, such as Voi, Spin and Bird, say the vehicles offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to short car journeys.

But campaigners have warned they could become trip hazards and pose a risk to vulnerable pedestrians.

There are also fears the trials will be taken as a "green light for individuals to purchase and use their own e-scooters on public roads and elsewhere," according to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).


'Enormous trip hazard'

Disability awareness campaigner Deborah Farley-Persaud, who is registered as blind and uses a white cane, told the BBC she fears rental e-scooters could obstruct the pavement, creating "an enormous trip hazard", having previously encountered issues with dockless e-bike schemes in London.

She also said she finds e-scooters "frightening because you can't hear them and you can't see them".

Mrs Farley-Persaud, 51, from Islington, in north London, said she has had numerous encounters with e-scooters when travelling around the city and was injured last year following a collision with an e-scooter on a pedestrian underpass in Old Street, east London.

She is now concerned about increased use of e-scooters at a time when she does not feel safe to go out and maintain social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs Farley-Persaud said she has rarely been out during the lockdown, but in the times that she has been she has had "a number of close calls" with e-scooters.

"I was trying to cross the road on Friday and one whizzed past me," she said. "From my husband's description… they clearly hadn't got any regard for the rules of the road, going the wrong way up a one way street."

A recent survey by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) found that two-thirds of blind and partially sighted respondents feel less independent now compared to before lockdown.

Sarah Lambert, head of social change at RNIB, said "clear enforcement measures" should be put in place to make sure e-scooters are not used on pavements, where they could compound this feeling of less independence.

David Davies, executive director of PACTS, said safety concerns around e-scooters were being "glossed over" and pedestrians would "lose out" from changes to e-scooter rules.

"We are convinced they will be used on pavements. Although there will be regulation, they will be and that's the reality, police don't have the time to regulate that," he said.

The charity, which advises the House of Commons and the House of Lords on air, rail and road safety issues, has called for e-scooter speeds to be limited to 12mph, and said helmets should be made compulsory.


'Convenient' transport

Supporters of the vehicles say they are better for the environment than alternatives, and would help people to move around cities as lockdown restrictions are eased.

Swedish firm Voi is among those hoping to bring them to the UK. It says the vehicles offer a good alternative to public transport as they are ridden out in the open air, where there is less risk of coronavirus transmission.

The firm estimates it could have up to 90,000 e-scooters in towns and cities across the country by the end of the year.

Its chief executive, Fredrik Hjelm, said cities "urgently" need to give people more transport options as traffic returns to UK streets.

"Voi was started with a mission to provide a way of transport that was more convenient and better for our environment than cars, and we have demonstrated across Europe that we can help replace short car journeys of one to three miles with e-scooter trips," he said.

Companies are also taking measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. Separate scooter-sharing firms Spin and Bird have both implemented systems where their e-scooters are disinfected when they are collected up for charging.

Bird, which has been operating on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park since 2018, also said it has street teams that clean scooters in the street.

"Of course the best way to reduce the spread of Covid-19 is travel outdoors and not be in enclosed spaces with others, so scooters are ideal for this," said Harry Porter, from Bird's communications team.

Amy Moore, 34, from Northamptonshire, is keen to incorporate an e-scooter into her commute to work for environmental reasons and to "reduce congestion which will improve people's commute and therefore quality of life".

She said it was "a good last mile option" for her commute and that rental schemes offered a way to "try before you buy", should privately-owned e-scooters be legalised in future.

Electric scooters have become a familiar sight in US and European cities such as Los Angeles and Paris, where companies including Lime, Bird and Uber have offered the vehicles to hire via a smartphone app.

Such schemes have not been possible in Britain to date, as e-scooters were only legal on private land.

Last month, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced a £2bn fund for green transport including e-scooters, in a bid to combat overcrowding on public transport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Originally meant to run in 2021, e-scooter trials were brought forward and broadened to more areas - to encourage people to look at alternative ways to travel over public transport.

The DfT said the rental schemes will involve "leading companies in the industry from Great Britain and across the globe working closely with local authorities to provide a plan for the controlled introduction of e-scooters in cities, towns and rural areas".

Privately owned e-scooters will remain illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes and tracks and pavements.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×