Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, announced in the House of Lords today that the UK Government will be creating a new vehicle class for e-scooters.
Vere said: “Safety is 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 whilst unlocking innovation and growth in this emerging multi-billion pound industry.
“To that end, it is our intention that this bill will create a low speed, zero-emission vehicle category that is independent from the cycle and motorcycle categories. New powers would allow the government to decide the vehicles that fall into this new category in the 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.”
This means a new bill planned for later this year will legalise e-scooters for use on public roads.
Scooter retailers and rental firms welcomed the announcement saying this would lead to more people taking up the transport option. Pure Electric Founder Adam Norris said: “The introduction of a new low-speed zero-emission vehicle category is a hugely exciting next step in unlocking the safe and legal use of e-scooters – revolutionising commuting for millions of people.