Scooting into chaos
Tearaways ride e-bikes in mall and on A-road
youths rode e-scooters on to an A-road and others drove into a shopping centre during a citywide trial of the electric bikes.
two teenagers took the e-scooters, which have a maximum speed of 11.5mph, on to a dual carriageway where the limit can be 70mph.
Neither boy, who had hired the bikes as part of the uK’s first trial of the vehicles on public roads, wore protective equipment or high visibility clothing.
they were criticised for their ‘sheer stupidity’ after police stopped them on the A19 in Middlesbrough.
the incident was one of several that marred the start of the trial which saw 50 e-scooters made available for hire in the tees Valley area.
two masked youths also rode the bikes through the indoor Cleveland shopping Centre. shoppers were forced to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.
the ages of the riders were not released and it is not known if they hired the bikes legitimately.
Five hundred more e-scooters are now being made available in the area. the legal status of e-scooters changed two weeks ago to allow them on public roads.
After the A19 incident, tees Valley Mayor Ben houchen said: ‘this was illegal and in flagrant breach of the rules and I’m pleased to see our fantastic police officers move swiftly in line with the trial rules and procedures in place.
‘Nobody would dream of cycling or riding a skateboard on a motorway, but it would seem that there will always be some idiots that need protecting from themselves and no amount of planning can anticipate such sheer stupidity.’
the mayor added: ‘since the launch of our e-scooter trial [last] Monday we’ve had 482 rides take place, the overwhelming majority of which have been without incident.’ superintendent Graham
Milne said: ‘hiring e-scooters may seem like a bit of fun for some, but they’re not toys. they can only be hired and ridden by holders of a valid driving licence and anyone found to be driving irresponsibly can have their licence endorsed, face a fine or prosecution.’