‘E-scooter crimes’ on the rise
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ELECTRIC scooters are being used in hundreds of offences including assaults, burglaries and anti-social behaviour, according to police data.
Other cases involve riders drunk and high on drugs crashing into pedestrians and vehicles.
Trials of e-scooter hire schemes have been permitted in cities across Britain since July last year, but most crimes are believed to involve private e-scooters, which can only legally be used in the UK on private land but are a common sight on roads and pavements.
Incidents involving the scooters have been disclosed by forces in response to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests.
In a reply, Norfolk Constabulary listed details of 120 reports.
They included ‘suspects on electric scooters’ following an assault, a male on an e-scooter who carried out a burglary, and a person who ‘made off from police’ using an e-scooter.
Chris Theobald, senior campaigns manager at charity Guide Dogs, said: “We are concerned that as e-scooter use grows, more people with sight loss will be forced to change their route or avoid independent travel altogether. We need action now to make e-scooters safer, tackle dangerous and anti-social behaviour by e-scooter drivers and to stop sales of high-speed e-scooters.”