Rental e-scooters will be made legal in Britain from Saturday

Rental e-scooters will be made legal on roads across Britain from Saturday (July 4), in a bid to ease pressure on public transport as lockdown is eased.

In an announcement made yesterday (June 30), the Department for Transport (Df) has said the first e-scooters could be available from next week as part of a 12-month trial that is designed to help understand the impact that e-scooters can have on reducing motor traffic.

The scooters will be strictly prohibited on pavements and will be limited to a speed of 15.5mph.

To rent a scooter, individuals will need a full or provisional car, motorcycle or moped licence and they will be advised to wear a helmet at all times.

Local authorities and devolved administrations hosting the trials can run the rental schemes in their areas in accordance with the guidance that was published by the DfT yesterday.

Individually owned scooters will remain illegal on public roads.

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean has said: ‘As we emerge from lockdown, we have a unique opportunity in transport to build back in a greener, more sustainable way that could lead to cleaner air and healthier communities across Great Britain.

‘E-scooters may offer the potential for convenient, 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. The trials will allow us to test whether they do these things.’

David Parry-Jones, VP EMEA at Twilio, the cloud connectivity experts behind the e-mobility providers Lime and Spin commented on this announcement: ‘A global connectivity platform of this type is crucial to help micro-mobility providers scale-up in response to need during the gradual easing of lockdown.

‘Consumers, businesses and the public sector alike want to avoid putting additional pressure on existing public transport infrastructure right now, and also need to ensure that they are complying with social distancing guidelines where feasible. E-mobility options can help.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay