Warwickshire residents urged not to ride escooters
The Road Safety Partnership is warning the public of riding a privately owned escooter in any public place.
Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership (WRSP) is raising awareness of the serious implications for young people riding privately owned escooters in public places in the county.
An escooter is defined as a motor vehicle, therefore a licence, insurance, tax and MOT are needed.
The current penalty for riding an escooter on the road or in any public place is 3 points on a driving licence and £100 fine.
If the rider is too young to hold a licence at the time of the offence, then the points can be added to their licence later when they apply for one.
The WRSP is also reminding parents that they could be prosecuted for allowing their children to ride them, particularly if they end up in a collision.
Warwickshire Police Inspector Jem Mountford said: "Not only are escooters illegal, we are extremely concerned for the safety of those using them. In Warwickshire, we have received reports of more than one rider on an escooter at a time and reports of parents with very young children on the escooter with them, being taken to school, which is extremely dangerous.
"Nationally in 2022 there were 1369 collisions involving escooters resulting in 1458 casualties and 12 fatalities. We have seen an increase in both collisions and injuries in Warwickshire but this could be just the tip of the iceberg as we know collisions are being under reported."
Warwickshire County Council Road Safety Education Team has been engaging with primary and secondary schools across the county, seeking support with raising awareness among their school and wider communities of the current law on escooters.
Operations are also planned by local SNTs in some areas to help educate young people.
For more road safety information and advice, follow Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership on Facebook @WarwickshireRoadSafety and Twitter @WarksRoadSafety.
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