An e-scooter has been seized amid a promised police crackdown on riders without insurance and licences.
Beat officers reported the rider who was wearing headphones and did not have insurance while scooting in The Street, Great Chart, near Ashford.
E-scooters are classed as motor vehicles which means the same rules that apply to motor vehicles apply to electrical vehicles – including the need to have a licence, insurance and tax.
But it’s not currently possible to get insurance for privately owned e-scooters, which means it’s illegal to use them on any land not privately owned – unless in a town or city covered by a government trial.
The conclusion of Kent’s only pilot scheme, in Canterbury, in November last year signalled the end of any lawful e-scooter use on public land across the county.
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has been openly critical of e-scooter use.
During July’s Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel, Mr Scott said his view on the scooters was that officers should “seize them and crush them because they are not legal on any public land”.
He added: “I don’t want the perception to rise that they have been effectively decriminalised when in fact they are not road safe, not road legal and should not be on our roads.
“We’ll continue the messaging around that, and I will hold the force to account on all aspects of this question to make sure we don’t have a summer blighted by anti-social vehicles.”
However former university librarian Sarah Carter, from Canterbury, is among those who believe that “the genie is out of the bottle” for the e-scooter craze.
The 80-year-old was knocked down two summers ago by a man legally riding a vehicle hired from Bird – the company that oversaw the controversial two-year trial in the city.
She suffered a broken wrist, cracked jaw and fractured cheekbone in the collision.
Police can issue a £300 fine and six penalty points to riders for having no insurance and up to a £100 fine and three to six penalty points for riding without the correct licence.
Riding on pavement can see riders receive a fixed penalty notice and a possible £50 fine while using a mobile phone or other handheld mobile device while riding could result in a £200 and six penalty points.
Meanwhile, riders going through red lights will also receive a fixed penalty notice a £100 fine and possible penalty points.
Also if caught drunk driving, riders could face court-imposed fines, a driving ban and possible imprisonment.
