England’s mayors are expected to be handed powers to target out of control e-bike and e-scooter use.
The way e-bikes and e-scooters are parked and used could be up for a major overhaul as part of the government’s devolution plan giving more powers to regional mayors.
The government is expected to announce new powers allowing metropolitan mayors to introduce fines for rental bikes and scooter operators and users who scatter the rides on pavements, according to MailOnline.
Angela Rayner, the deputy Prime Minister and the Housing Secretary, has announced her ‘push’ for further devolution of powers which will also see several councils abolished and merged. Regional mayors will get greater power over planning and transport decisions.
It comes after a string of incidents and close-calls involving e-bikes and scooters, including illegal ‘death trap’ e-bikes seized in London capable of travelling at 70mph.
Ian Hislop, the Private Eye editor and Have I Got News For You presenter, was crossing the road when he was hit by an e-bike rider in London last week.
The 64-year-old injured his head in the crash and he was pictured wearing a large bandage.
Currently, each council, including the London boroughs, decide how they control e-bike and scooter parking and how many bikes each area has.
Brent Council made headlines after it warned the e-bike operator Lime that it would remove the rides in the area unless it improved the unruly parking in the borough. Eventually, the bikes were allowed to stay after Lime promised it would remove roguely parked bikes within two hours, creation of 200 new parking bays and cutting down the size of the fleet in Brent from 750 to 500 bikes.
Campaigners have called for tougher action to tackle the ‘menace’ ofe-bikes, saying they can be particularly dangerous for disabled people.
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Sarah Gayton, from the National Federation of the Blind, told Metro: ‘The Government must be able to issue regulations across the UK, to ensure that all hire bikes are locked and docked off the pavement and off all pedestrian spaces.
‘They need docking stations like the Santander ones in London to ensure the bikes stay upright and not left in places and spaces where they block access and cause blind people to trip over them and be injured.
‘There does not need to be a complete change in local government to get immediate improvements in this area, the Government could act now to resolve this issue and you have to question why they are not doing this.
‘The dockless e-bike model simply does not work and the Government needs to get an urgent grip to do away with this model. They also need to reduce the speed of the rental ebikes too, as they are not being ridden sensibly by many people, with riders jumping red lights and riding on pavements.’
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