E-scooters and E-bikes: do you or your child have one?

📢 POLICE NEWSLETTER – E‑SCOOTER & E‑BIKE SAFETY UPDATE

Rising Concerns Around Illegal and Unsafe Use

Across the UK, officers continue to see an increase in the illegal and dangerous use of privately owned e‑scooters and modified e‑bikes. While these vehicles are becoming more popular, many riders remain unaware of the laws governing their use — and the risks they pose to themselves and the public. Our recent enforcement activity highlights the importance of public awareness, proactive policing, and community reporting. Read on to see the legislation around these methods of transport.

One of the community priorities, and indeed our own priorities, is the use of e-bikes and e-scooters. We are aware of a select group of individuals who are regularly using these in an anti-social manner, often doing wheelies up and down the road and intimidating other road users. We understand the distress it causes, and we are doing something about it. We are spending days dedicated to seizing these and dealing with those who use them accordingly. One particular recent example has seen a male processed for riding without insurance, failing to stop, and riding without due care and attention. E-scooters, and some e-bikes, are governed by and treated as ‘light electric vehicles’ and are subject to the same legislative requirements, such as tax, insurance, and so on. The issue being that insurance, tax and MOTs cannot be applied to e-scooters and e-bikes which consequentially makes the use of them in a publicly accessible place illegal. 

Our ask if that if you, or anyone you know, is using one, to inform them that action will be taken against them. Our operation remains confidential at this stage as divulging our method may compromise what we are seeking to achieve, but we will share the results with you when we are happy that it has achieved its aim. We will continue to tackle this issue indefinitely or until there is significant improvement. 

You said you are unhappy about the use of e-scooters and e-bikes, so we are dealing with it. Robustly. 

⚠️ E‑SCOOTERS: WHAT THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW

Private E‑Scooters

Privately owned e‑scooters cannot be used legally on:

They can only be ridden on private land with the landowner’s permission.

Common offences include:

Police powers include:

Officers nationwide are seizing thousands of illegally used e‑scooters each year as part of targeted operations.

Rental E‑Scooters

Rental e‑scooters remain the only lawful option for public road use, and only within approved trial zones which Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland does not support. 

⚡ E‑BIKES: LEGAL VS ILLEGAL MODELS

Road‑Legal E‑Bikes (EAPCs)

A standard electric bike is road‑legal without a licence or insurance if it meets all the following:

These bikes are treated the same as conventional pedal cycles.

Illegal / Modified E‑Bikes

E‑bikes that exceed power or speed limits — often advertised online as “super e‑bikes” or “stealth bikes” — are legally classed as motorcycles or mopeds.

This means they require:

Without these, riders face prosecution, fines, penalty points and vehicle seizure.

Several seized bikes have been found capable of extreme speeds, often lacking adequate brakes or safety features, posing serious dangers to road users.

🚨 ENFORCEMENT & COMMUNITY IMPACT

Recent operations in South Wigston have resulted in:

Many offenders, including commuters and delivery riders, are unaware they are committing motoring offences.

🛡️ SAFETY ADVICE FOR THE PUBLIC

We continue to encourage safe and responsible use of electric vehicles. Key advice includes:

📞 REPORTING & COMMUNITY SUPPORT

We ask the public to help us tackle unsafe and illegal use by reporting concerns.

Please provide:

Your information assists us in targeting hotspots, identifying repeat offenders, and improving community safety.