Safety must be paramount when using an e-scooter

Regardless of where you stand on the debate about escooters – whether you view them as dangerous, accidents waiting to happen, or a practical, efficient way of getting around – it’s looking like they’re going to be here to stay.

At the moment, only escooters operated by Voi are legal on our streets – anything else is uninsured.

This however hasn’t stopped many more unregulated versions of the lightweight vehicles from flying around the city.

With the government now planning to introduce a new ‘low speed, zero-emission vehicle category’, at least all e-scooters will be in the same boat, so to speak.

One thing we can surely all agree on though is keeping everyone safe – whether they be the scooters’ riders, pedestrians or other road users.

Voi has reported that there have been 176 ‘incidents’ involving their escooters from when the trial scheme was introduced in March last year to February. Mercifully most have been minor. But we have no figures on how many accidents there have been involving private riders,

Councillor Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council cabinet member for transport, says: ‘Private e-scooters are still a problem. Most of the incidents we see are related to them.’

Is the government potentially legalising all e-scooters going to eradicate ‘problem’ riders? Of course not.

There is also a worry about where e-scooters will sit – cyclists are not required by law to wear helmets, but anyone on a moped or motorbike does have to.

We would like to see everyone wearing helmets – covering the aftermath of an accident where someone on a bicycle wasn’t wearing a helmet is not a pretty sight, and the victim could pay the ultimate price.

We hope that people take advantage of Voi’s new education campaign and heed their messages.