Police will have to “move more towards enforcement” if current efforts to advise and educate e-scooter users who ride illegally on public roads or spaces proves ineffective, according to the force’s roads policing lead.
Inspector Lawrence Courtness explained that police did not want to “criminalise people for making a genuine mistake”.
E-scooters are classed as motor vehicles under the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 and the Motor Traffic (Third-Party Insurance) (Jersey) Law 1948.
This means the rules that apply to motor vehicles also apply to e-scooters – including the need to have a licence and insurance.
“It’s often a bit of a misunderstanding, and the people we really want to deal with are the ones who are persistent and just flagrantly don’t care.”
Inspector Lawrence Courtness
However, it is not currently possible to get specific insurance or a driving licence for e-scooters, meaning those who ride one – or an e-bike that can go faster than 15.5mph – on public roads, footpaths or cycle lanes are breaking the law.
Last month, new guidance on dealing with offenders was issued by Jersey’s Attorney General.
“The ultimate aim is to basically prevent injury,” Insp Courtness said.
“We’ve got people with no helmet going across a pedestrian crossing on a scooter and ending up in Southampton Hospital – that’s obviously the worst case scenario, or potentially hitting and hurting someone else.”
But he also noted that the force did not want to “criminalise people for making a genuine mistake”.
Insp Courtness said: “It’s often a bit of a misunderstanding and the people we really want to deal with are the ones who are persistent and just flagrantly don’t care.
“If it becomes clear that we’re not having an effective impact by doing a little bit more engagement, then they will have to move more towards enforcement.”
He added: “We’re not seeing swarms of these things flying around.
“But as we move on, it does become more of an issue – we now at least have got something we can combat it with.”