E-Scooter and E-bike Crackdown St Albans

Dear Resident 

I am writing to you to let you know about a successful Operation which ran this morning (Thursday 27th November) across St Albans City Centre and Sopwell. Officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Team were deployed on foot patrol to carry out high-visibility patrols with the aim of identifying bikes and scooters being ridden in public places, engaging with the rider, and seizing these bikes. 

We have listened to your concerns about the anti-social use of bikes, with incidents including intimidating behaviour, dangerous and reckless driving, and those who use e-scooters or e-bikes to facilitate criminal behaviours such as drug dealing or shoplifting. We have had recent reports of violent and aggressive incidents occurring within St Albans where e-scooters have been used, leading to feelings of unsafety from residents. 

We understand that many owners or riders of e-scooters are not using them for criminal exploits, however it remains illegal to ride e-bikes in public places. E-scooters and e-bikes are treated as mechanically-propelled vehicle which means just like a car or a van, the driver must have a licence, insurance and tax to use these vehicles on public roads. Any e-bike which can travel above 15.5mph without any pedal power would also constitute an illegal e-bike. 

On today's Operation, officers seized two e-scooters and two e-bikes, informing the riders of the legalities of owning an e-bike or e-scooter. The drivers will be reported for offences of: ‘Driving without Insurance’ and those without a driving licence will also be reported for ‘Driving Otherwise than in Accordance’. One of the e-bikes was recorded as being able to travel 35mph with the throttle only; one of the e-scooters had dysfunctional brakes which could have led to a serious collision if not seized. In line with National Policy, e-scooters which are seized by Police in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire will be sent for destruction to prevent re-offending. 

We hope that the seizure of these illegal e-scooters and e-bikes is largely welcomed by the general public. If you have any questions about legal ownership of e-scooters, or concerns about the use of e-scooters in your neighbourhood, please do let us know by Replying to this message. 

Kind Regards

Fiona