Sound alerts on e-scooters to help blind

ELECTRIC scooters could be fitted with artificial noise alerts to reduce their risk to pedestrians.

Tier Mobility, which operates in york and 80 other cities globally, plans to add the warnings to its vehicles next year after research into which ones work best.

This will be carried out by the Thomas Pocklington Trust, a charity for blind and partially sighted people. If successful, alarms could be fitted by all UK scooter operators, The Times reported.

Fred Jones, UK general manager of German-based Tier Mobility, said: ‘E-scooters offer lots of benefits to UK cities but they must be introduced in a considered way.’

Charles Colquhoun, chief executive at the trust, praised the company for ‘responding to the concerns that the introduction of silent, heavy and fast e- scooters represents a real danger to blind and partially sighted people’.

E-scooters are used on the streets of 36 towns and cities in England. Riders can hire them from licensed firms and the vehicles are limited to 15.5mph and banned from pavements. But e-scooters with speeds of over 40mph can be bought for use on private land.

From July 2021, electric cars in the UK will have to be fitted with audible warnings and in London bleeping noises have been tested on electric buses.