E-scooters are 'menace' for the blind, says campaigner

2 hours ago

Alec BlackmanWest Midlands

E-bikes can be ridden legally as long as they do not exceed 15.5 mph (25kph), but e-scooters cannot be used in public, only on private land

PA/ Dominic Lipinski A row of e-scooters parked on a street. — E-bikes can be ridden legally as long as they do not exceed 15.5 mph (25kph), but e-scooters cannot be used in public, only on private land

A West Midlands campaigner for blind and visually impaired people has said e-bikes and e-scooters ridden through pedestrian areas are a 'menace' and more needs to be done to tackle them.

Coventry City Council wants to update its Public Space protection Order (PSPO) covering the city centre, to offer shoppers more protection from those using the electric devices after receiving more complaints about their use.

Sarah Gayton is the Street Access Campaign coordinator for the National Federation for the Blind UK (NFBUK).

"They can literally ride behind them, in front of them, swerve around them and ride at them, and that for a blind or visually impaired person is terrifying", she said.

The proposals to stop people riding e-bikes and e-scooters through Coventry city centre were first introduced in 2023

Coventry city centre, looking from Smithford Way towards Market Way. — The proposals to stop people riding e-bikes and e-scooters through Coventry city centre were first introduced in 2023

The city council is holding a consultation on plans to update the PSPO, which was introduced in 2023 and aimed at stopping people riding the electrically-powered bikes and scooters through a defined area of the city centre.

The new order would aim to tackle behaviour that causes "harassment, alarm, or distress".

A government trial of rented e-scooters in Coventry ended in 2023, which means their use in public places now that trial is over, is illegal.

E-bike are legal, but they have to be limited to a maximum speed of 15.5 mph (25kph).

But Gayton says much more needs to be done by the local authorities to tackle their use, especially when it comes to how they affect the confidence of blind people and people with visual impairments.

"People have to realise that these e-scooters are not just terrifying and dangerous for pedestrians, but for the riders themselves. They're inherently dangerous. It's like a pogo-stick with an electric skateboard."

Sarah Gayton from the National Federation for the Blind UK says e-bikes and e-scooters are dangerous and the police and councils must take firmer action

BBC/ Josh Sandiford Sarah Gayton has grey hair swept back over her head. She is wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and has a black blouse with a white flower pattern on it. — Sarah Gayton from the National Federation for the Blind UK says e-bikes and e-scooters are dangerous and the police and councils must take firmer action

In the proposed updated PSPO, the city council said it would move from an 'activity-based prohibitions to a behaviour-based approach, focusing on conduct that causes harassment, alarm or distress.'

Data compiled by the NFBUK, based on casualties reported around an e-scooter trial in Bristol, suggests riding one of the machines is more than 100 times more dangerous than being a pedestrian.

Gayton said: "The Police have to act and the schools need to do lots more education and tell [pupils] about the dangers of them."

"There is nothing, in our opinion, that is safe about these e-scooters and the police and all these services need to act together to educate people not to buy them and not to ride them. [They should] enforce a ban over all of Coventry, not just the city centre."

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