Starting this Saturday, July 4th, rented electric scooters can be driven on some UK roads. This is part of trials to be carried out in cities across the country. Around 50 councils are reported to be interested in legal proceedings. The government said the first trials are expected to start next week. The use of privately owned electric scooters on public roads remains illegal.
The news was first reported by BBC Newsin front of the Ministry of Transport officially made the announcement. The trials are expected to last 12 months.
The move is a major step forward for electric scooters in the UK, whose use on the country's streets was illegal, although they are common in the US and other European countries. This is because the country's existing laws treat them like traditional motor vehicles and provide them with safety and legal regulations that they cannot comply with. Laws also prohibit their use on sidewalks.
The government's announcement includes some health and safety requirements, including a top speed of 25 km / h. Users must also be over 16 years old and have at least a temporary driver's license for cars, motorbikes or mopeds. Helmets are recommended, but are not mandatory, and scooters are still not allowed to stand on sidewalks.
In the course of this year, the British government began to take steps to legalize electric scooters. Already in March she announced a public consultation on its use, with the aim of starting the first scooter tests at the end of 2020. More recently, government plans have accelerated as social distance requirements have made it more difficult to use public transportation safely. In addition to bicycles, electric scooters are an environmentally friendly alternative. Last month, the country's Department of Transportation announced that this would be the case advance these scooter trials as part of a series of measures, including large investments in the bicycle infrastructure.
"E-scooters may offer the potential for comfortable, clean and inexpensive travel, which also relieves the traffic network, as another environmentally friendly alternative to get around and enable social distance," said UK Transport Secretary Rachel Maclean: "The trials will be enable us to test whether they are doing these things. "
While scooter use was technically illegal on the street and can be fined £ 300 and six points on a driver's license, it is becoming more common in cities across the UK. A scooter rental company, Bird, even ran a scooter rental business in London's Olympic Park, exploiting the laws that private electric scooters are legal for. Tens of thousands of people rented their scooters under the program, Bird said.
Bird welcomed today's news in a statement. "The whole of the UK will soon be able to benefit from a greener and more convenient alternative to cars," said Patrick Studener, Bird’s EMEA chief. "Reducing car journeys will reduce traffic jams and air pollution, and make our cities more livable for everyone."
Other scooter sharing companies have also welcomed the move. "Working with the UK government, micromobility services such as Spin can accelerate the restoration of public transport networks that, due to limited service, temporarily do not meet people's needs," said Felix Petersen, European director of Spin scooter rental company, "Micromobility" provides a convenient one , clean and affordable travel choices instead of buying a car or using hail services that increase congestion and pollution. "
Another rental company, Tier, said she already had "over 1,000" of her scooters ready to use from her UK warehouse, Voi said BBC News By the end of the year, up to 90,000 scooters could be spread across the UK.
Update June 30, 5:33 p.m. ET: Updated with the government's official announcement of plans.
