Lives are being lost because of delays in new regulations for e-scooter use, MPs were warned on Thursday.
Lawyers sounded the alarm over increasing rates of accidents, injuries and some deaths following the sharp rise in people riding around London on electric scooters.
The Met police said it had not seen any “significant challenges” with e-scooters in an official trial scheme in 10 London boroughs. But it highlighted fatalities linked with the illegal use of e-scooters and concerns over wider use of private e-scooters should a new class of low-speed zero-emission vehicle become law.
Transport for London, which oversees the rental trial scheme in the city, stressed e-scooters offer a “fresh potential alternative to car reliance” as a “genuinely new mode of transport”.
But it warned: “Privately owned e-scooters remain illegal on public roads yet are widely available, and there are no standards for vehicle construction or rider requirements. This is to the clear detriment of safety.”
There have been six deaths in the capital linked to e-scooters since 2021, including a 14-year-old girl. The Motor Accident Solicitors Society called for a “robust regulatory regime” for rental and privately-owned e-scooters.
“We support the Government’s plans to create a new low-speed zero-emission vehicle category which could provide the opportunity to address many of the issues around the use of e-scooters,” it told the Commons transport committee’s inquiry into e-scooters.
“But we are concerned that the continued delay in bringing forward these regulations is causing unnecessary injuries and loss of life.”
Riding private e-scooters in a public place, including roads, pavements, parks and cycleways, is illegal, potentially risking a £300 fine if on a public road.
A special traffic order for the London rental scheme permits the use of scooters on TfL cycle tracks within some boroughs.
These e-scooters can be hired in Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth (north of the borough only), Richmond, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
