The UK government is looking to bring in new legislation that will legalise private e-scooters as a priority for the upcoming year.

Voi said legalising private e-scooters would allow people to adopt an affordable and sustainable transport model and would reduce congestion and pollution in our cities and towns

While the Queen’s Speech this week didn’t specifically mention e-mobility or e-scooters, Prince Charles – who delivered the speech on behalf of the Queen – talked about a new Transport Bill.

“My Government will improve transport across the United Kingdom, delivering safer, cleaner services and enabling more innovations. Legislation will be introduced to modernise rail services and improve reliability for passengers,” he outlined.

A government spokeswoman later confirmed: “While riding a privately owned e-scooter on public land is currently illegal, we are considering how best to design future regulations and our Transport Bill will help us to take the steps we need to make e-scooters safer and support innovation.”

And speaking in the House of Lords, transport minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton said the Bill will create a low-speed, zero-emission vehicle category that is independent from the cycle and motor vehicle categories.

She added: “New powers would allow the Government to decide the vehicles that fall into this new category in future and how they should be regulated to make sure that they are safe to use. We hope that e-scooters will be the first of these vehicles.”

The move had already been widely anticipated after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs that the Government was looking to lay down legislation as part of work to crack down on illegal e-scooter sales.

Speaking to the Commons Transport Select Committee in April, Shapps said: “We will take powers to properly regulate and then be able to decide the usage of them.”

There are more than 750,000 private e-scooters in the UK currently according to reports, and most of them are being used illegally on public roads – rather than on private land which is the only place they’re actually allowed.

On public roads, the only legal way to use e-scooters at the moment is through official hire schemes as part of e-scooter trials, which began in 2020 and are now being run in over 50 towns and cities.

Currently, there are no standards for private e-scooters on vital areas such as their top speed, acceleration, braking and lighting, and last month saw the independent Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) urge the Government to tackle illegal e-scooter use as it warned of a rising number of deaths among riders. A total of 15 people have now died from using e-scooters – up from 11 in 2021 and all involving illegal use of private e-scooters.

The new Transport Bill could help change this with regulations for e-scooters, while also serving to reshape the face of mobility in the UK.

Swedish e-mobility firm Voi, which is playing a prominent part in the current trials, said such a move would allow people to adopt an affordable and sustainable transport model and would reduce congestion and pollution in our cities and towns.

Jack Samler, general manager at Voi UK and Ireland, continued: “Over 12 million rides were taken on Voi e-scooters and e-bikes since the launch of the trials and 39% modal shift from cars to e-scooters, representing an estimated 4.5 million short car trips replaced. Shared e-scooter schemes, such as Voi’s, have successfully demonstrated that they can be safely integrated with other forms of public transport, bicycles and walking to give people carbon-free transport options.”

The RAC agreed that it could help transform shorter journeys in urban and other built-up areas.

Head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “We know that many car journeys are often under two miles, contributing to congestion in our towns and cities, so allowing privately owned e-scooters to use the roads could help reduce traffic volumes.”

But he warned that opening up a new mode of transport to everyone wasn’t without its risks and said it was vital that the Government looks carefully at how legalisation can be done safely and learns from the current trials.

“We believe that the Government needs to look at how e-scooters can be prevented from using pavements and kept out of pedestrianised areas, and whether they should be covered by compulsory insurance and built to meet certain standards to ensure their safe use. Questions will also be raised as to whether e-scooter riders should be able to demonstrate a certain level of riding competence before taking to the roads.

“It’s also important to remember that road fatality numbers have plateaued in recent years, so it would be disastrous if a hasty decision to legalise all e-scooters led to an increase in deaths and serious injuries,” Lyes continued.

Ben Pepper, associate solicitor at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, also said the the new regulations and Transport Bill must consider the current safety and insurance problems, as he warned that rushing through legislation without addressing the existing issues with these vehicles could leave riders, other road users and pedestrians still at risk.

“e-scooters are classed as motor vehicles as defined by section 185 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. All motor vehicles must have tax, MOT, lights, number plates and other certain characteristics – but e-scooters don’t meet these requirements. This means they can’t be insured. It is vital that anyone who has a collision that involves an e-scooter has a clear route to compensation for their injuries and financial losses.

“Clarity must be provided too on what models do meet safety standards, as well as what can be done to ensure they are visually and audibly detectable for pedestrians who are blind, partially or / and deaf.

“In the meantime, the Government should also provide better education on e-scooter safety risks and the current laws on their use.”

AA president Edmund King also commented, saying: “With e-scooters and other forms of micro-mobility popping up more frequently on UK roads, it makes sense that safety regulation should come first.  If introduced alongside appropriate infrastructure, e-mobility could help provide a positive shift in greener localised travel both for individuals and last-mile freight.”

The new Transport Bill will also look to further drive the rollout of EVs, helping to achieve the aims of the recently launched EV Infrastructure Strategy, and will provide new legislation on autonomous vehicles, enabling the Government to set new safety standards and assign legal responsibilities to protect users of self-driving vehicles.