Leading campaigner claims 'someone could die' with Derby's e-scooter trials
Sarah Gayton from the UK’s National Federation of the Blind says the vehicles are not safe
A trial on e-scooters in Derby “should be stopped altogether or someone could die”, says a leading campaigner.
Sarah Gayton from the UK’s National Federation of the Blind says the vehicles are not safe and believes “Derby does know what it’s playing at” as the city council looks to expand its existing scheme further.
But Derby City Council in response says there have been no complaints about its scheme and safeguards are in place for its success.
Across the UK there have been tragic stories regarding e-scooters with people being killed or seriously injured. But there is the viewpoint that the vehicles are a good way of using active travel (travel by exercise) which helps the environment.
Ms Gayton’s plea comes just days after public safety concerns were raised in a Derby City Council meeting where calls were made for e-scooter lanes to be installed to protect pedestrians.
She says other e-scooter trials across the country have come to a stop because of safety concerns – and Derby should slam the brakes on its own trial. A trial in Kent stopped in the autumn of last year and it has been reported a trial in Birmingham was “paused” last month following public safety fears.
In Derby, yellow e-scooters have been available as part of a trial within the last couple of years. The city council’s provider is Wind Mobility but councils can use different providers. Currently the e-scooter trial in Derby is just for key workers. Key workers can rent an e-scooter for £30 a month inclusive of VAT, plus a £50 deposit which is fully refundable when the e-scooter is returned.
Last year the council declared the scheme a success and said it was in talks to expand the scheme. This was echoed in a council meeting last week where a senior officer said a potential expansion of the e-scooters trial could be looked into once the city’s new e-bikes scheme is under way.
The yellow scooters in Derby are legal due to the Government allowing them exclusively for a trial scheme. However, other privately owned e-scooters are not legal to ride on roads and pavements (except for private land) but are being seen increasingly in the city centre and across the wider Derby area.
In Nottingham, a 71-year-old woman was killed after being hit by an e-scooter rider and in Birmingham a 12-year-old boy lost his life after a collision involving an e-scooter and a bus. In Derby, a six-year-old girl suffered a broken leg when an e-scooter rider collided with her, and police were called to Nottingham Road, in Chaddesden following a collision involving a car and two e-scooters.
Ms Gayton has filed a report to the Government calling on all UK e-scooter trials to be stopped due to the dangers they are causing up and down the country.
The report says: “It is very clear the e-scooters trials have failed, turning pavements into terrifying rat runs for e-scooter riders and dumping grounds for e-scooters when not in use. The trials have shown that even with strict regulations, e-scooters cannot be regulated safely for the rider, for pedestrians and pedestrians who are blind, visually impaired, disabled or vulnerable.”
The campaigner said she was shocked after being alerted to an article from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) to find that the council were looking at expanding the scheme.
She said: “In Nottingham e-scooters are still being dumped on the pavement and not are being left in a safe place. This is despite racks being installed. I fear the same will happen in Derby.
“Other trials have stopped which shows that they do not work. I see Derby has 50 e-scooters and the demand has already dropped off. So you have to ask, is there demand in Derby for these to be expanded?
“As has been seen across the country and in Derby, people can get seriously injured. There are some fractures that can be very complex which means it takes longer for victims to recover.
“My message to Derby City Council is shut the e-scooters trial down, turn them off. And don’t even think about bringing any more in. They are a death trap. There is a tragedy waiting to happen.
“I am more than happy to visit the council and present to them my concerns and the evidence to say they should be stopped.”
On its website Derby City Council says the trial e-scooters “offer the potential for convenient, fun, clean and affordable travel, reducing reliance on car trips and lowering harmful emissions”. It says the aim of the scheme is to test the new form of transport to see how it works in practice, and whether it could offer a greener way to travel around the city in the future.
Regarding their safety, the council states that Wind Mobility has “numerous safeguards in place”, including “geo-fencing”, which will allow where e-scooters can be used and will limit e-scooters to 4mph in the city centre for the safety of riders and pedestrians. This technology means the e-scooters won’t operate outside Derby City Council boundaries.
A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “Neither the Council nor the e-scooter operator, Superpedestrian, have received any complaints about the scheme. There are currently no plans to stop the trial which supports
residents to commute safely to and from work in Derby.
“Unlike privately owned e-scooters, Derby’s trial has the support of Government and is regulated to ensure the safety of both users and pedestrians. Derby’s e-scooter trial has numerous safeguards in place to restrict where the e-scooters can be used and limit their speed to within 4mph in the city centre. Each user also undergoes safety training before being able to access the scheme.”
Dangerous riding, riding on pavements or abandoned e-scooters can be reported 24 hours a day by telephone on 0330 133 3231. More information is here.