electric scooters

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I believe hiring is legal, as mentioned earlier in this thread. As far as I know, privately owned eScooters are still illegal on public land.
Well it seems hiring is the thing right enough so that accounts for the fairly large numbers of them around here not encountered one on the motorway yet but it's only a matter of time
 
Hiring is legal as part of the government pilot, privately owned are still illegal to use in public places and on roads. How long that will last is anyone's guess.
 
The law in the UK is (as often the case) a somewhat shambolic mess and desperately needs rationalising.

Some aspects related to the use of "carriages" (which includes bikes!) apparently go back to 1835.

The use of different laws to regulate the use of bikes, scooters, skateboards (electric and/or leg powered) is a mess when they all provide a form of assisted transport. It is possible we should include wheelchairs and electric buggies in the confusion.

In particular, to me, differentiating between bicyles and scooters which perform broadly the same funtion in much the same way is completely daft. The law (purportedly attributed to Dickens) "is an ***"
 
If you take the letter of the law, in order to legally use these scooters on the public road you need to be over 16, have a driving licence and insurance!
They are technically a ‘motor vehicle’ and as such require the appropriate documentation.

The scooter hire companies are doing it correctly by actually providing an insurance policy for the duration of the journey, as long as their terms and conditions are met I.e. you’re the person who set up the hire via your account, which has previously been set up with a copy of your driving licence etc, and you’re over 16.

By being a motor vehicle all the other laws apply in relation to accidents being reportable and drink/drug driving laws too.
 
33mph is enough to get you prosecuted. You'd probably get offered a Speed Awareness course.
When I attended a speed awareness course a few years run by the AA (not that one!) the guy running the course told us categorically you would never get done for 10% over the limit. HO guidelines used to be 10% +2mph but from anecdotal evidence this doesn't seem to be applied.
Incidentally the "speed trap vans" have POLICE plastered all over them, but am I right in thinking the are actually manned by "civilians"??
 
If you take the letter of the law, in order to legally use these scooters on the public road you need to be over 16, have a driving licence and insurance!
They are technically a ‘motor vehicle’ and as such require the appropriate documentation.

The scooter hire companies are doing it correctly by actually providing an insurance policy for the duration of the journey, as long as their terms and conditions are met I.e. you’re the person who set up the hire via your account, which has previously been set up with a copy of your driving licence etc, and you’re over 16.

By being a motor vehicle all the other laws apply in relation to accidents being reportable and drink/drug driving laws too.
Is there a specific driving test for electric cars?
 
The trials.
BBC comment. "
Currently, you can buy one but you can't ride it on a UK public road, cycle lane or pavement. Anyone who does is committing an offence.
The only place an e-scooter can be used is on private land, with the permission of the landowner.
"
 
I believe you are given the Automatic endorsement only on passing

I found it hard to get a definitive answer but this would make sense. Anyone learning to drive should really try and learn in a manual if possible, manual geared vehicles will be around for probably decades yet and it would be unwise to limit yourself unnecessarily.
 
Is there a specific driving test for electric cars?
No, there is not but you would only be entitled to drive an automatic. A manual licence requires the vehicle to have a clutch pedal (a working one at that before someone asks).
 
When I attended a speed awareness course a few years run by the AA (not that one!) the guy running the course told us categorically you would never get done for 10% over the limit. HO guidelines used to be 10% +2mph but from anecdotal evidence this doesn't seem to be applied.
Incidentally the "speed trap vans" have POLICE plastered all over them, but am I right in thinking the are actually manned by "civilians"??
I'm afraid that the trainer misinformed you. The threshold of prosecution is set by the Chief Constable of each of the 42 constabularies in England and Wales. The 10% is actually a guideline nothing else. 1mph over the posted limit is a whole offence and as such is prosecutable. Under Section 35 of the Construction and Use Regulations 1986, the fitted speedometer is allowed to over read but not under read. So at a true ground speed of 25mph, the fitted speedometer shall not read in excess of the true ground speed +10% +2.5mph. So 25+2.5+2.5=30mph. so when your speedometer is showing 30mph the true speed is somewhere between 25-30mph. It is illegal for the speedometer to under read. Hope that helps.

With regard to who operates the mobile camera vans, The operator is very often not a police officer but civilian police staff. All offences recorded must be dealt with and approved by a police officer, so they review the evidence recorded by the civilian staff.

I hope that this has been helpful.
No, I'm not a police officer but I am an ADI of 20+ years experience and a Licenced NDORS trainer for Speed Awareness and other courses.

Always happy to provide assistance and guidance to help you stay on the correct side of the fence!!
 
From our local police this morning. "
Our city centre neighbourhood policing team arrested a 16-year-old boy this afternoon for dangerous driving…
You might think he isn’t old enough to drive?? However, he was in fact riding an electric scooter, which are classed as a motorised vehicle.
We were called by CCTV operators in the city centre who had seen someone riding an e-scooter around town in a dangerous manner, narrowly avoiding pedestrians and riding it inside Queensgate shopping centre!
The teen was arrested for dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance and we seized his scooter.
We’ve had a chat with him in custody and he’s been released while we continue our investigation.
Did you know it is only legal to ride an e-scooter on private land with the landowner’s permission or as part of a government trial?
We believe many people are unaware of this and that penalties for riding them in public can result in points on your licence, a fine and the vehicle being seized.
For more information on using publicly owned e-scooters please read the government advice here
👉
https://www.gov.uk/.../information-sheet-guidance-on... "
 
As XX558 says, you can prove this by checking with your Sat Nav. When my speedometer says 70mph, my satnav say 66mph.

As you can imagine, I have no idea what my speedometer says when the sat nav says 70mph!!!!!

Phil
 
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