E-scooter crackdown in Dudley could lead to ban
It's after an elderly woman was knocked over by one in Stourbridge
Dudley Council is poised to ban e-scooters from town centres in a crackdown on reckless riders who cause serious injuries.
At a meeting of the authority earlier this month, councillors unanimously accepted a Notice of Motion from Liberal Democrat Cllr Andrew Tromans which highlighted the threat illegal use of the scooters poses to the public.
It is estimated there are up to one million e-scooters in use nationally of which 82% are privately owned.
Cllr Tromans highlighted the case of a 73-year-old woman who was knocked over in Stourbridge by an e-scooter and suffered severe bruising to her eyes, arm and leg.
He said: “That individual was hospitalised and is only just recovering. The latest government figures indicate that e-scooter casualties exceed 1,400 per year with nearly 500 people sustaining serious injuries and multiple fatalities reported annually.
“It’s illegal to ride a privately owned e-scooter anywhere other than on private land unless the e-scooter is part of an authorised rental scheme.
“We have no such schemes in our borough.”
The theme was continued by Cllr Ryan Priest, who added: “I think if you were to do a straw poll of most people in Dudley borough they wouldn’t know that. They will quite happily buy them for their kids.”
The motion accepted by the meeting asks for the council to consider Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) in town centres to prohibit the use of privately owned e-scooters.
Dudley Council recently introduced a tough new antisocial behaviour (ASB) policy where drones are used to observe yobs and offenders face the possibility of eviction from council homes if bad behaviour is a breach of new tenancy agreements.
Cllr Simon Phipps, Dudley cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, is keen on the legal use of e-scooters, especially around city centres and called for teamwork from police and other partners of the council to track down high-speed hooligans.
Cllr Phipps said: “We have seen so many instances, not just e-scooters but yobbos riding around with balaclavas on electric powered bicycles.
“There is no registration number, no real way of tracking them apart from things my colleagues have done when it comes to introducing drones for council use.”
Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley had a message for council tenants whose youngsters cause problems.
Cllr Harley said: “It’s your household, you are responsible for everybody who lives there. This new tenancy agreement hopefully dovetails with the ASB policy and we get real action.”