E-scooter riders may be forced to pass test and buy insurance

E-scooter riders could be forced to fit licence plates, pass a test and buy insurance under a proposed Government crackdown.

A minimum age of 14 could also be set together with legal restrictions on the power of the machines, The Telegraph understands.

It comes after a 2,000 per cent increase in teenagers caught driving without insurance last year was blamed on e-scooter misuse, according to IAM Roadsmart, the motoring charity.

Other measures being drawn up by ministers include forcing manufacturers to limit their machines’ top speed.

The plans could trigger a row with Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London. Last October, Transport for London, which the Mayor chairs, said it was considering letting 16-year-olds ride the machines in public, lowering the age from the current limit of 18.

A Government source said: “We will commit to holding a consultation on this with legislation to follow.”

Formal consultations are an important step taken by government departments before new laws are proposed to Parliament.Driver-style licensing for e-scooters is not understood to be part of the Government’s plans, with the source saying that a German-style system of passing an online test is one model being looked at by ministers.

“We’re consulting on whether to do that,” the source said. “There is a spectrum of options that are lighter or lower-burden than full driver licensing.”

Options being looked at include passing an online test, although such moves may fall short of what motoring campaigners have called for.

Nicholas Lyes, policy director at IAM Roadsmart, told The Telegraph in February: “The Government needs to urgently bring forward legislation on private e-scooters, which must include minimum type approval device standards, speed limiters and proposals for riders to have a minimum level of competency.”

E-scooters are regular foot-operated scooters that have been fitted with an electric motor to make them go faster with less effort by the rider.

Legally, such modified scooters cannot be used on public roads unless they are hired from a government-approved company – but about 750,000 are thought to have been sold in Britain to date, according to IAM Roadsmart earlier this year.

A number of trial schemes around the country allow members of the public to rent e-scooters from Government-licensed businesses such as Lime. Typically their top speed is limited to 15.5mph, although the limit is 12.5mph in London.

Riders must hold at least a provisional driving licence to use one on public roads, the Government says.

Mr Lyes of IAM Roadsmart said: “E-scooters have the potential to change the way we do short trips, but for years the UK has been plagued by confusing laws, questionable device quality, poor riding standards and now heavily modified machines capable of dangerous speeds.

“We need to urgently introduce legislation that provides a basic competency test for all e-scooter users while also bringing forward a type approval that ensures devices are built to high safety standards.