On two wheels but on the wrong side of the law

On a suburban street lined with homes, police officers are at work.

They are targeting anyone illegally riding e-scooters, which they say are causing "numerous accidents", and even deaths.

Northamptonshire Police says more young people are riding the scooters illegally in public areas.

It launched its crackdown, named Operation Tides, after a five-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by an e-scooter on the pavement in Northampton.

Elaine Jones, watching the officers at work in Corby, is pleased to see some action being taken.

"I've caught lots of e-scooters in my street: young children aged 10 going on the main road," she says.

"I reported them to their parents and the parents didn't care."

Using a privately owned e-scooter in public places is illegal, but Jones believes they should not be dismissed entirely.

"They could be a good asset for transport, for people getting to work in the early morning, to the industrial estate," she says.

"I think the people who are accessing them are not thinking of other people's safety.

"School kids at 12 or 13 – and people scooting with headsets on – have got completely no idea. They should wear helmets and be regulated a lot more."

Ch Insp Nathan Shepherd says the increase in children using the vehicles is "a safeguarding issue".

The Department for Transport (DfT) estimates between 640,000 and 950,000 people in England own an e-scooter.

An estimated 1,484 people were injured in e-scooter collisions in 2025. In the same year, 10 people died while riding e-scooters, including a boy and girl in Essex.

In Northamptonshire, police seized 166 illegal e-scooters during 2025-26, compared with 42 in 2023-24.

"We're tackling the rise of private e-scooters and e-bikes across Corby," explains Shepherd, chief inspector of response and local policing for the town and nearby Kettering.

"The community are telling us it's becoming an issue for them.

"It's not just dangerous for the riders, it's also dangerous for pedestrians and other road users."

It is illegal for anyone to ride a privately-owned e-scooter in public, on pavements, on roads or in parks.

It is only legal to ride on private land with the permission of the landowner.

The only e-scooters that can be ridden on public roads are those hired from approved schemes, with some provisos.

"The whole point of the legal e-scooter scheme is you have to be 18 years old and have a provisional licence, so you've got some form of road safety or knowing how to drive," explains Shepherd.

"Anyone is picking up a private e-scooter and they have no road safety awareness."

As well as seizing e-scooters on the streets, Northamptonshire Police has been visiting schools to educate young people about the risks.

One teenager tells the BBC he had previously ridden an e-scooter that he received for Christmas.

He says he had not realised that riding it on the road was against the law.

"I mean, everyone was doing it, so I thought 'Why not I do it?'"

But a crash and minor injury has put him off using e-scooters in future.

"I didn't see a car because it was pitch black and my light was out, so I went flying over the handlebars, over the car, and sprained my wrist," he says.

So what do young people at Corby Business Academy think about e-scooters?

James, 13, says he has never used an e-scooter and prefers "going on a bike manually".

But he says he has seen "loads of people using them", including children his age.

"It can be to kind of show off, but a lot of people just do it to get to places faster – but it can be really dangerous and they don't realise."

Kohen, 14, says the session with the police has helped him to make a decision.

"I was considering asking my parents to get an e-bike or an assisted pedal bike, but now I realise how dangerous it really is if I get in an accident - so I'll probably just stick with my pedal bike," he says.

The law is different when it comes to e-bikes: people aged 14 and over can ride one as long as it is an "electrically assisted pedal cycle".

Margaret Winchcomb, deputy executive director at the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), says: "It's absolutely tragic that children have access to what are inherently motor vehicles.

"Last year was a very tragic year where people under 16 were killed using e-scooters."

• What are the laws about e-scooters?

Winchcomb says that unlike with approved rental schemes for over-18s, "private scooters being used are completely unregulated, not designed for use on our roads, and ridden by people who aren't trained to use them".

PACTS wants the government to "close a loophole" that allows retailers to sell e-scooters for use on private land that are "evidently being used on public roads".

Successive governments have failed to bring in legislation, she says.

"The can has been kicked down the road repeatedly and no-one has taken the bull by the horns, followed the examples of various countries in Europe who have set out regulations."

Winchcomb says action and communication is needed "at senior minister, even prime minister-level" to make the law clear to the public.

A government spokesperson said: "We know the law needs updating to make sure e-scooters are safe for everyone and have committed to regulating them as soon as possible.

"It is illegal to ride privately owned e-scooters on public roads, cycle lanes or pavements, and any retailer who doesn't make this clear at the point of sale is breaking the law.

"Using an e-scooter illegally can lead to criminal prosecution, fines, points on a driving licence and having an e-scooter seized."

The spokesperson said the government would try to change the law "when Parliamentary time allows".

New legislation would "create safe, legal routes for people to use e-scooters" and allow police to focus on enforcing the new laws, they added.

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