E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

Catherine Atkinson Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Helen Maguire]

Absolutely, and I will come to the police powers and the Acts available to them.

I have three children myself, and Jacob could have been one of mine. He could have been the child of anyone in the Chamber. As MPs, we have a duty to keep our children safe. Jacob Calland lived in Wythenshawe, Manchester, close to Makerfield, so if the Prime Minister is listening, I urge him to act now.

That brings me to the unending rental e-scooter trials. The trials began in July 2020, and were intended to run until November 2021. They were launched to review whether e-scooters reduce pressure on public transport and motor traffic, and to look at their safety impacts. They were extended until March 2022 to allow for more time for evidence to be gathered due to covid. They were then extended again until November 2022 due to the DFT issuing guidance to enhance safety measures. They were then extended again to May 2025 to allow the DFT to reflect on further analysis, and they have now been extended again until May 2028 to help fill evidence gaps to inform legislation. That will be eight years of trials with no action.

Why are the trials unending? What are we trying to achieve with that period of time? Ireland had a six-month trial, Germany had a 180-day trial and France and Spain did not even have trials, and those countries were able to implement legislation and improve road safety in a fraction of the time. My question to the Minister is: why can’t we?

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Derbyshire constabulary has seized and crushed more than 1,000 illegal electric scooters, some capable of travelling at 50 mph and being ridden by children. At such a speed, the damage that can be done is catastrophic. Older constituents have told me that they are afraid to go into Derby city centre for fear of being hit, and that is not to mention the house fires that have been caused by e-scooter batteries. Does the hon. Lady agree that the sooner we legislate to tackle illegal scooters and protect the public, the better?

[Helen Maguire]

I absolutely agree, and I congratulate Derbyshire police on doing an outstanding job in seizing e-scooters and e-bikes.

Between the start of the trials in 2020 and December 2025, there were 7,591 reported casualties in collisions involving e-scooters. In 2025 alone, there were 1,477 reported collisions and 10 deaths. The time for data collection has long passed. Legislation is now needed to save lives on roads.

The lack of Government action is forcing police forces to deal with this issue on their own. There is no centralised guidance on operational tactics, so the police are adapting seizing powers. Derbyshire police have a “see it, seize it” system, where they are empowering police community support officers under section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to seize and remove e-scooters within 24 hours, but the situation is not consistent across the country. Every police force does it differently.