As e-scooters are not legal for use in public places it is difficult to see why you would ask Santa for one – unless you have a private space where you can use it.
It is perfectly legal to buy one, but it is against the law to ride a privately owned e-scooter in any public place anywhere in the UK. That means roads, pavements, parks and gardens and town centres. Anyone who owns an e-scooter may use it on private land with consent of the landowner.
E-scooters are classified as a Personal Light Electric Vehicle, meaning they are subject to the same rules as other vehicles in that class. So you need to have insurance, a valid driving licence and you must comply with any other use requirements.
Superintendent Simon Bradshaw, Deputy Head of Road Policing, Police Scotland said: “We understand that e-scooters are a tempting option for Christmas presents this year, but we would urge people to fully understand the law and the implications of using an e-scooter on a road or other public place. The safety of all road users is our priority and the last thing we want to do is to ruin a Christmas by reporting them to the courts and taking away a much-loved and expensive Christmas gift.”
In the summer the UK Government changed the rules to allow the use of rental e-scooters through approved rental companies in cities such as Cambridge where the council is trialling Voi electric e-bikes and e-scooters. The city has introduced around 50 bikes and 300 scooters in the last 15 months. The UK Government is to make a decision on the future of schemes like this in March 2022.
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
