E-Scooters Will Soon Be Legal On UK Roads

The government announced during the Queen's Speech on Tuesday that e-scooters are set to become legal on UK roads.

Although it's perfectly legal to own an e-scooter, it remains illegal to drive it on public roads, unless it's part of the government-backed rental trial schemes, BBC News reports.

Now, however, that could be set to change. A government spokesperson said: "While riding a privately owned e-scooter on public land is currently illegal, we are considering how best to design future regulations and our Transport Bill will help us to take the steps we need to make e-scooters safer and support innovation.

"Safety will always be our top priority and our trials are helping us to better understand the benefits of properly regulated, safety-tested e-scooters and their impact on public space."

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The AA's president Edmund King added: "With e-scooters and other forms of micro-mobility popping up more frequently on UK roads, it makes sense that safety regulation should come first.

"If introduced alongside appropriate infrastructure, e-mobility could help provide a positive shift in greener localised travel both for individuals and last-mile freight."

Ahead of the new scheme, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) want the government to also factor in the needs of people who are blind or partially sighted. 

Moussa Haddad, a policy manager for the charity, said: "E-scooters are fast-moving, operate quietly, making them difficult to detect, and are often ridden on pavements despite rules prohibiting this.

"Because of this, they pose particular risks for blind and partially sighted pedestrians.

"Making e-scooters more visually and audibly detectable will help reduce the risks these vehicles pose but these are only some of the solutions that are being explored."

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It seems many Brits are on board with the UK's push for greener modes of transport, as the government looks towards its net zero strategy.

41 percent believe that greater accessibility to electric vehicles is the key to making transport greener, while 13 percent of those people also are also in favour of increasing access to e-scooters and bike sharing schemes.

Despite being on board with the idea, the survey of more than 2,000 Brits also revealed that only 26 percent said they were optimistic about the UK cutting carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Becky Whitmore, senior EV product owner at Volkswagen Financial Services UK, which conducted the study, said: "The transition to electric is already at full throttle and I believe the Government’s recent proposals for more than half of all new cars sold in the UK to be fully electric by 2028 is a really positive step.

"The conversation around green travel really has the nation talking. But it’s also sparked a gearshift in people’s lifestyle choices.

"What’s pleasing for me is that so many young people are on board with sustainable initiatives, as these are the consumers who will be helping to create a greener planet for generations to come."