This week in my city centre
myself and other pedestrians were almost knocked off our feet by a head-to-toe
black clad e-scooter rider slaloming along the pavement at what I can only
regard was reckless speed.
My concern after seeing the rider
disappear into the distance was what injuries someone could sustain being in
collision with him / her. Many of these machines are capable of 30 mph, although
it seems rental scooters are restricted to 15.5 mph, but, even then, an elderly
person or a child being hit at that speed by what could be 150 - 180 lbs of
rider and machine could sustain life changing injuries.
In light of the fact that
privately-owned electric scooters are prevented from being on public areas, I
can only assume that the machine in question had been hired from
somewhere local. Had it been a motorbike cruising the pavements I could at
least have taken the registration and reported it to the police. However, these
e-scooters have no markings and that concerns me as how can anyone identify the
rental company and then the person who rented said machine without a visible
registration plate? How would anyone know who to contact in the event of an
accident where the rider does not stop?
I have, subsequently, taken up
both the issue of speed and registration plates on these scooters with my local
MP and the Government's Transport Minister Grant Shapps.
