Electric scooters are getting closer to being fully legalised on public roads, but UK laws on e-scooters aren’t always clear. Here, we uncover the key facts around e-scooter UK law.
Last updated: 11/05/2022
Are electric scooters legal?
Although it’s completely legal to buy, sell, own and keep an e-scooter, privately-owned electric scooters are illegal to use on the public highway in the UK. You can only ride privately-owned e-scooters on private land, with the landowner’s permission.
However, this is set to change in the near future. The Government has announced plans to fully legalise the use of e-scooters as part of a new Transport Bill.
Rental e-scooters, as part of current nationwide trial schemes, are permitted for use on the public highway, subject to local rules and regulations, usually within a certain geographical area (sometimes called ‘geo-zoning’).
Can I ride an electric scooter on the road?
It’s currently illegal to use a privately-owned e-scooter on the public highway (roads, pavements or cycle paths). However, with the introduction of the new Transport Bill, we may see regulated use of private e-scooters on the roads in the near future.
However, it is legal to ride a rental e-scooter where a trial rental scheme exists (subject to local rules and regulations) and having a ‘Q’ category on your full or provisional driving licence. You can ride a privately-owned e-scooter on private land with the landowner’s permission without a full or provisional driving licence.
E-scooters are included under the relatively new term “powered transporters”, which also includes devices such as Segways, hoverboards and powered unicycles. There is no specific law that governs powered transporters, so they are covered under the same laws as all motor vehicles.
The Government is trialling many e-scooter rental schemes across the country in a bid to find a way to safely legalise e-scooters as an everyday mode of transport.
Can I ride an electric scooter on the pavement?
A pavement is classified as part of the public highway, which means that it is also illegal to ride an e-scooter on one (unless, of course, that pavement was privately-owned, and you had the owner’s permission to use it).
In fact, the 1835 Highways Act is the most up-to-date law that relates to this, effectively classifying an e-scooter as a ‘carriage’:
"If any person shall wilfully ride upon any footpath or causeway by the side of any road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of foot passengers; or shall wilfully lead or drive any horse, ass, sheep, mule, swine, or cattle or carriage of any description, or any truck or sledge, upon any such footpath or causeway; or shall tether any horse, ass, mule, swine, or cattle, on any highway, so as to suffer or permit the tethered animal to be thereon."
It is also illegal to use a rental e-scooter on the pavement – these can only be used on the road (except motorways) and in cycle lanes, although government guidelines do provide leeway for local lawmakers to prohibit rental e-scooter use on certain cycle ways if they wish.
Do I need a licence to ride an electric scooter?
Yes.
To use a rental e-scooter legally, you need to hold a valid full or provisional driving licence with the ‘Q’ category listed. Driving licences with the categories ‘AM’, ‘A’, or ‘B’ include the ‘Q’ category.
Privately-owned e-scooters remain illegal to use on public highways, even if you have a licence.
Will electric scooter laws change soon?
While the current law is certainly outdated, the Transport Bill (announced in May 2022) is set to regulate privately-owned e-scooter use in the year ahead.
Previously, in July 2018, The Department of Transport (DfT) began its ‘The Future of Mobility’ consultation to examine new methods of transport – including e-scooters – and how the UK’s infrastructure and current laws might need to adapt to these new technologies.
Bird set up its innovative trial at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London which enabled locals and visitors to ride rental e-scooters in the area, and in the summer of 2020 the UK Government gave guidance on rental e-scooter schemes so that local councils could work with rental providers (such as Bird, Lime and Voi) to set them up across the country.
The Covid-19 pandemic arguably accelerated this process as the need for more effective, hygienic, healthy and environmentally friendly personal transport solutions became a higher priority.
Where can I ride a rental electric scooter?
There are 32 regions operating rental schemes across many of the main urban areas of the UK, including:
- Bournemouth and Poole
- Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury and High Wycombe)
- Cambridge
- Cheshire West and Chester (Chester)
- Copeland (Whitehaven)
- Derby
- Essex (Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford and Colchester)
- Gloucestershire (Cheltenham and Gloucester)
- Great Yarmouth
- Kent (Canterbury)
- Liverpool
- London (participating boroughs)
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle
- North and West Northamptonshire (Northampton, Kettering, Corby and Wellingborough)
- North Devon (Barnstaple)
- North Lincolnshire (Scunthorpe)
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Oxfordshire (Oxford)
- Redditch
- Rochdale
- Salford
- Slough
- Solent (Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton)
- Somerset West (Taunton and Minehead)
- South Somerset (Yeovil)
- Sunderland
- Tees Valley (Hartlepool and Middlesbrough)
- West Midlands (Birmingham, Coventry and Sandwell)
- West of England Combined Authority (Bristol and Bath)
- York
Check out the latest full list
Why are electric bikes legal when electric scooters are not?
Electric bikes are categorised in law as “electrically-assisted pedal cycles” (EAPCs), which means that they have specific laws governing them. This effectively legalises their use, subject to the regulations set out by the UK Government.
Privately-owned e-scooters (as powered transporters) are not governed by specific laws yet, but there are plans included in the Transport Bill to create a new vehicle category for powered light transport vehicles – which could also encompass electric-powered two-wheeled delivery vehicles.
Pure Electric believes e-scooters (both privately-owned and rental) have clear potential to help clean up our urban areas and environment, moving the focus away from polluting car and congested public transport use and towards a healthier way of living.
We are supportive of the current trial rental schemes and Transport Bill are looking forward to further developments in due course. Be sure to check back to this article regularly – we’ll be keeping updated with the latest news concerning e-scooter legalisation.