No parents prosecuted in e-scooter Christmas crackdown

No parents were prosecuted during a police campaign aiming to discourage the buying of e-scooters for children at Christmas, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

Last year Thames Valley Police (TVP) Chief Constable Jason Hogg said the force would prosecute parents.

The number of e-scooters seized during the crackdown was also lower on average than the following summer.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Barber said while the figures appeared low, work continued to tackle the problem. TVP said it took the issue seriously.

The chief constable was speaking at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council in November 2023 when he said: "We are going to be moving to enforcement very, very quickly.

"We are going to be prosecuting the parents for no insurance - for use, cause, permit - in January and we will be seizing a lot of these scooters very, very shortly."

The FOI found there were 18 e-Scooter seizures in December 2023, and 23 in January 2024.

In comparison, between 1 June and 8 September officers seized 118 e-scooters and e-bikes, the equivalent of more than 30 seizures a month.

The force was not able to say whether any parents were given cautions, words of advice, or some form of sanction, and could not give the BBC a start or finish date for the campaign.

E-scooters are illegal to use in public, except for those in council rental schemes.

They can only be used on private land as they are classed as motor vehicles and need insurance, which is not currently available to individuals.

The penalty is the same as for driving without insurance - £300 and six points on a driving licence, or an unlimited fine and disqualification if the case goes to court.

As part of last year's crackdown, PCC Barber said TVP would be "stepping up enforcement" on privately owned e-scooters.

In February he also urged major retailers to stop selling them.

In a new statement he told the BBC he had been liaising with the chief constable over the issue of illegal e-scooters.

He said: "There is more work to do in terms of enforcement and tackling this issue continues to be an ongoing challenge nationally."

He said it could not be addressed through enforcement alone and that the laws on their use had to be tightened up.

Thames Valley Police said: "Dangerous, illegal, and inappropriate use of e-scooters causes risk and concern in our communities, and as such, is an issue that Thames Valley Police takes very seriously."

It said it had "conducted dedicated operations" over the last 12 months, and was also working closely with schools to generate awareness.

In all it carried out 464 activities relating to illegal e-scooter use, including "education, awareness raising, prevention, targeted activity and enforcement", and seized 186 e-scooters in total.

It added: "This hard work will continue as we look to keep our communities safe."

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