E-scooter safety fears lead to push for road crash inquiry unit
Investigation branch in pipeline to deal with problems caused by new forms of transport
‘Electric vehicles are safer than their combustion counterparts but there are other elements which pose some difficulties’
A DRIVE to ensure e-scooter safety has prompted a government consultation to set up the first road crash investigation body in England and Wales.
The nature of collisions will “change over time” amid growing use of “digital roads and micro-mobility vehicles”, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
Ministers hope to put traffic collisions on a par with air, marine and rail accidents by creating an authority at a time when “human operators” are increasingly likely to cause crashes rather than vehicles themselves.
The consultation “is being launched now due to huge developments across the transport sector, such as the rollout of increasingly automated and electric vehicles”, says a DfT document.
Pointing to a Law Commission recommendation for a specialist investigation branch for automated vehicles, the report says: “Without the ability to coordinate and synthesise learnings under a central body, there is a risk that significant issues are missed.”
While this year has seen a number of government-backed trial schemes, the use of e-scooters on public roads and pavements is against the law.
Fewer than half of police and crime plans consider roads policing a priority despite road traffic collisions costing the UK £36billion per year, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found last year. Sussex Ch Insp Roy Hodder admitted there was something of a “lottery” among forces at a time when road traffic collisions are “astronomically high”.
He said: “Some chief constables might not deem road safety a priority. It isn’t always taken as seriously as other issues. If the same number of people were killed by weapons as on the road, there would be outrage.”
Nick Simmons, of victim support charity Roadpeace, wants to cut the 1,460 deaths on British roads last year.
“E-scooters represent more of the same issues around road safety, and people using them are probably using other modes of transport,” he said.
“It’s the behaviour which we’d like to persuade and influence people to improve.” Mr Simmons expressed his concerns over whether police forces “adhere to consistent practice” while investigating road traffic accidents.
Jack Cousens, at the AA, said electric cars in particular can be harder to tow away, increasing chances of a further collision. “It’s fair for them to reference the changing nature of transportation,” he said. “Electric vehicles predominantly are safer than their combustion counterparts, but there are other elements as well which pose some difficulties.”
Baroness Vere of Norbiton, the roads minister overseeing the consultation, told the Lords it was “frightening, particularly for vulnerable people using the road or pavement, to be terrorised by e-scooter users”. She added: “That does not mean we should not proceed with trials to establish what the risks are and build an evidence base, as to how they might be successfully used.”
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said:.“The safety of all road users is our priority and we are continuing to run trials on e-scooters to ensure decisions are correct.”