A trial of e-scooters in Kent will be cut short to prevent people getting “seriously hurt”, the county council has ruled. E-scooters cannot be used legally on public highways outside a small number of trial areas, which from December will once again include Kent.
The pilot scheme, launched in Canterbury in November 2020 for an initial 12-month period, has twice been extended despite public safety fears and a pedestrian being knocked down.
But Kent County Council has now rejected an offer from the Department for Transport to continue the trial until May 2024, well beyond its current end date of November 30 this year.
It will instead be scaled back ahead of the pilot concluding, with the number of scooters and designated routes reduced.
The politician overseeing the trial, Kent County Council’s cabinet member for transport, David Brazier, said: “As we were nearing the end of the trial, I decided to truncate it before someone was seriously hurt.
“Recently an elderly lady was quite seriously injured by one being ridden on a pedestrian area which was not allowed.”
In July, 80-year-old Sarah Carter suffered a broken wrist, cracked jaw and broken cheekbone after she was struck by an e-scooter being ridden on a pavement in Station Road West, Canterbury.
The retired university librarian said: “Another elderly person could have quite easily been even more seriously injured or even killed.”
A spokesperson for Bird, the firm that operates the scooters, said the person riding the scooter was identified and blocked from using the service.
Mr Brazier said: “I tended to favour the trial going on, but it was quite obvious now accidents could have been worse than they were.”
Mr Brazier told county councillors at a cross-party committee that e-scooter users had been riding routes not permitted by the official pilot, which is operated by Bird.
He said: “You cannot legislate against people who will agree to use something in a certain way and then suit themselves.”
It means from 1 Decemberthere will be no legally ridden e-scooters on Kent’s streets, as they are only permitted on public highways as part of government-approved trials.
According to the Department of Transport, in 2021 there were 1,280 crashes involving e-scooters across the UK. These incidents caused 1,359 injuries and nine deaths.
It is understood the Canterbury pilot could now be reduced to a single route before 30 November.
Mr Brazier told Thursday’s meeting: “The agreement reached by officers was the area of operation should immediately be limited to the corridor between the university and the city centre.
“I believe that further reductions have taken place since then.”
A spokesperson for Kent County Council said: “In recent months, Bird, working to deliver this trial for Kent County Council, has introduced enhanced safety measures including a reduction of the electric scooter speeds from 15mph to 12mph.
“Additionally, they increased [patrols] for pavement riding and changed their rider policy to introduce an immediate ban for any misdemeanour.
“Kent County Council has decided to gradually reduce the number of vehicles in the trial, as well as the areas in which they operate, ahead of the trial finishing in Kent at the end of November.”
Bird launched the trial initially for students to travel between Canterbury’s universities and the city centre, where air pollution exceeds three World Health Organisation limits, according to Imperial University’s air quality report.
The trial zone was later increased and opened to all eligible riders in March last year, when it was extended for a second time.
Opinion on the scheme has been split, with supporters saying it cuts pollution, and others arguing the scooters are dangerous to pedestrians.
A spokesperson for Bird said the firm was “clearly very disappointed with this decision”.
“We have an incredibly low incident rate of 0.0014 per cent out of almost 67,000 rides since we launched in 2020, and one in five eligible Canterbury riders have used our vehicles, opting for sustainable travel and ditching petrol-powered trips.
“We will continue to provide our eco-friendly and convenient vehicles for Canterbury residents until the end of November.”
While there have been many complaints, Mr Brazier described Bird as “competent and professional people” who have “taken many steps to ensure the safety of their contractors and the public at large”.
Data from the trial will be passed to the Department of Transport, along with that from 29 other government-approved trials.
When all the pilots end in May 2024, the government is expected to make a decision on whether or not to approve the use of e-scooters on public highways in the UK.
SWNS
