Nottingham e-scooter rental scheme extended despite safety concerns

A city's electric scooter rental scheme is being extended despite concerns over safety.

Nottingham is one of a number of areas trialling government-approved e-scooters.

In October 2020 a 12-month trial began, and the initiative has been extended until November 2022.

Nottingham City Council said it would work with operators Wind Mobility and Nottinghamshire Police to tackle "dangerous pavement riding" by users.

It is illegal to use an e-scooter on a public road, pavement or cycle lane, and they can only be used on private land with the permission of the landowner, but restrictions have been lifted in certain areas as part of government trials.

Worries about the safety of users and pedestrians around the country have persisted.

A man in his 50s died after a crash in Stevenage, and in March a boy in Leicester was left with a fractured skull after being hit by a rider.

In Nottingham, a visually-impaired woman said she had experienced 14 instances of e-scooters causing, or nearly causing, her injury.

The city council said the vehicles had been ridden more than 850,000 times during the trial, with more than 35,000 registered users and 1.3 million miles travelled.

Among amendments to the city's scheme will be fines for poor parking, improvements to enforcement and number plates, and more training and education events.

Councillor Rosemary Healy, portfolio holder for transport, said the scooters "have proved popular" despite "issues and challenges".

"We continue to work with Wind and partners, including the police, to look at how we can resolve these issues, our priority being to tackle dangerous pavement riding and the risk especially to people with visual impairments," she said.

"There is clearly potential for e-scooters to offer a greener, affordable and more convenient way to travel, and it's worth extending the trial to provide more data and to design safety improvements so that if they were legalised in the long-term, we have a controlled safe way of managing their use."

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