E-Bikes & Scooters: Trouble On The Road?

Whether privately owned or rented, electric scooters and bikes are becoming an increasingly common sight on our roads. When used correctly they can offer cheap, sustainable travel, but are they causing more harm than good? 

In this episode of Tonight, Adam Shaw has been looking into concerns around this rising mode of transport, from safety issues to fire risks, as well as strapping on a helmet and testing these vehicles out for himself. 

We go on patrol with Cheshire Police to look out for illegal e-scooters and e-bikes that could be a danger to the public, before Officer Eloise Pearson takes us to Recycling Lives scrapyard in Preston where seized e-bikes and e-scooters are stored, destroyed and recycled. 

Someone who has seen for himself what can happen when these powerful e-bikes fall into the wrong hands is 38-year-old Dean, a victim of an e-bike hit and run in Manchester. The impact was so great that he was resuscitated by paramedics on the scene and spent four days in hospital with bleeding on his brain and fractured bones

We also meet wheelchair user Eliza who uses social media to raise awareness of how irresponsible parking and littering of rental e-scooters and bikes can make pavements and crossings inaccessible for disabled people. 

How have other European cities tackled issues with e-bikes and e-scooters? We take a trip to Paris, where in a recent referendum 90% of participants voted to get rid of rental e-scooters. Could the same thing happen to the UK’s e-scooters if these issues aren’t addressed or are these green machines here to stay?

Watch E-Bikes & Scooters: Trouble On The Road? on ITV1 at 8:30pm tonight, and join in the conversation using ITV Tonight

USEFUL LINKS: 

Read the rules around privately owned electric bikes 

Read the rules on privately owned electric scooters 

See Transport For London’s advice on e-scooter safety 

Read about the e-scooter trials happening in 31 regions in England 

Read the Met Police’s guidance on e-scooters

Check out the London Fire Brigade’s guidance on charging electric bikes and scooters safely