Delivered on 10th May 2022, HRH Prince Charles announced in the Queen’s speech that “Her Majesty’s Government will improve transport across the United Kingdom, delivering safer, cleaner services and enabling more innovations. Legislation will be introduced to modernise rail services and improve reliability for passengers.”
In a follow-on House of Lords Debate Baroness Vere, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, provided more details explaining that:
“Safety is also at the heart of our plans to create a regulatory framework for smaller, lighter, zero-emission vehicles, sometimes known as e-scooters. Their popularity is clear, and new rules are needed to improve safety and crack down on illegal use while unlocking innovation and growth in this emerging multi-billion pound industry. To that end, it is our intention that the Bill will create a low-speed, zero-emission vehicle category that is independent from the cycle and motor vehicle categories. New powers would allow the Government to decide the vehicles that fall into this new category in future and how they should be regulated to make sure that they are safe to use. We hope that e-scooters will be the first of these vehicles.”
PACTS is clear that safety must be prioritised when legislation is drawn up. This PACTS briefing on private e-scooter safety summarises and updates findings from the Road Safety Trust funded project (‘The safety of private e-scooters in the UK‘) and listing recommendations for safe regulation.
