𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Police and local authorities must do more to tackle the scourge of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters as they continue to blight our highways and have become a favoured form of transport for criminals in our towns and cities. You will have witnessed what I see on a daily basis – e-scooters wilfully ridden on roads and pavements or turbo-charged e-bikes weaving in and out of traffic and putting lives at risk.

Never once have I seen these riders stopped by the police and it makes you wonder if they take seriously tackling these illegal forms of transport which go hand-in-hand with criminal behaviour. Research compiled by Sky News in December 2024 revealed that crimes involving e-bikes and e-scooters had increased by more than 730% in five years with e-bikes featuring in criminal cases involving drug trafficking, robbery, theft and stalking.

Given the growing amount of these vehicles on the roads, one can only presume that this figure is even higher in 2026. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to have your phone or bag nicked while in town or witnessed a drug deal, chances are the culprits escaped the scene on an e-bike or scooter.

It is endemic – spend time outside the streets of any main London train or tube station and I can guarantee you will see some masked rider on a dodgy looking e-bike looking for their next victim.

Of course, not all e-bikes are bad – there are safe and legal versions that can be used on the roads of the country. These electrically-assisted pedal cycles run with an electric motor and a rechargeable battery which gives the rider extra power when pedalling.

The law around these legal bikes is simple: you must be over 14 to ride one on the roads and cycle paths of the country, the bike must have working pedals, and the electric motor must have an output of no more than 250 watts and not exceed the speed of 15.5mph.

If the bike has no pedals or can go faster than these limits then it is classed as a moped or motorbike and users must have a driving licence and ensure that the vehicle is legally registered, taxed and insured.

The problem comes with conversion kits that are available to buy online and that can make e-bikes go much faster and reach speeds of up to 50mph – these kits are often used by riders who wish to legally ride their bikes at higher speeds on private land or off-road sites which is all well and good but they also purchased by those with more nefarious intentions.

Government ministers are considering new regulations that would see online retailers become legally liable for the sale of these kits and other illegal products, but it is hard to see how this could ever be effectively enforced.

E-scooters are only allowed to be used on our roads in government-approved trial areas or on private land, but these rules are being ignored with blatant impunity. There are currently 18 approved trial areas including certain London boroughs, Coventry, Newcastle, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Salford and other locations where companies offer riders the opportunity to hire an e-scooter legally.

These e-scooters have a maximum speed of 12.5mph, must weigh no more than 55kg and have a bell or horn. Outside of the designated trial areas, if you see an e-scooter on a road than the user is breaking the law. If caught using a private e-scooter on a public road, riders can receive a fixed penalty of £300 or six points on a licence for driving a motor vehicle with no insurance.

The e-scooter problem is off the scale with recent research from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) revealing that nine out of 10 of the inspections that they conducted of e-scooter retailers were found to be unlawful.

We need zero-tolerance and we need it now. While there is clearly a place for trying to tackle the retailers or companies involved in fuelling the trade of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, we need to see the police do much more to stop their use on our roads.

They have the power to seize these illegal bikes and scooters and crush them which is exactly the kind of increased action we need to see. And given their clear link to crime and anti-social behaviour, greater police activity of stopping users would not only get these menaces off our roads but also assist in cracking down on other forms of criminality which have being ignored for far too long.