EXPOSED: High street cowboys turning EV e-scooters into 40mph death traps by almost tripling top speeds
They are sold as a convenient, eco-friendly and very modern way to negotiate congested towns and cities. There are up to a million e-scooters on British streets – even though, in the vast majority of cases, it is actually illegal to ride them on public roads or pavements. But that’s a mere technicality to a growing army of enthusiasts. They conjure up a futuristic world in which we trundle between coffee shops at speeds so sedate that riders and pedestrians alike are safe from harm. E-scooters conjure up a futuristic world – but high street cowboys are making them unsafe. Machines taking part in an official nationwide trial of e-scooters for rent are restricted to 15.5mph, for example. There is talk of new laws limiting private e-scooters to 12.5mph. Yet the reality is quite different – and such limits meaningless.