Rented electric scooters to be made legal in the UK

Rental e-scooters are awaited to become legal on UK roads from Saturday 4 July, in an offer to ease pressure on public transport amid the coronavirus crisis.

The government will outline later the rules by which e-scooter-for-hire firms and riders should abide.

It is expected to recommend that helmets be worn, although they will not be mandatory, and vehicles will be limited to a speed of 15mph.

Privately owned e-scooters will not be legalised.

Under the new rules to be set out by the Department for Transport, e-scooter companies could launch scooter-sharing schemes in UK towns and cities and it will be legal to ride one of these scooters on the road from Saturday.

Some 50 local authorities have expressed an interest to the government in having e-scooter trials.

E-scooter firms vying for licences in UK towns and cities, such as Voi, Spin and Bird, say the vehicles offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to short car journeys.

But campaigners have warned they could become trip hazards and pose a risk to vulnerable pedestrians.