Police warn parents over e-bike and scooter dangers ahead of Christmas

Richard Evans, local democracy reporter

Parents have been issued a warning over e-bike and scooter dangers ahead of Christmas.

North Wales’ Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin has sent a festive warning to parents who’ve bought their children e-bikes or scooters for Christmas after complaints about illegal riders in town centres.

Mr Dunbobbin spoke out after Cllr Chris Bithell highlighted dangerous riding in towns, including Mold, Rhyl, and Wrexham.

The debate took place at the North Wales Police and Crime Panel meeting on Monday (December 15) at Conwy County Council’s Coed Pella HQ.

Police officers hailed the success of Operation Vroom to combat “the growing issue of dangerous and anti-social use of e-scooters and e-bikes in public areas”.

Police have carried out stop/seizure activity and introduced “innovative Smart Tag forensic spray”, that offers “an effective method of identifying suspects even after the incident”.

But Cllr Bithell said not enough was being done to stop people using the bikes dangerously, saying they “continue to be a problem” in towns such as Wrexham and Rhyl. He claimed the problem was ”pretty widespread”.

“I live in Mold, and I represent Mold, and there is a very busy street market on a Wednesday and Saturday, which is pedestrianised, and you’ve got people going through the pedestrianised area on these electric bikes and scooters,” he said.

“They are not just young people – they are not just children – they are adults as well. They are weaving in and out of the people, and many of them (the pedestrians) are elderly or have mobility difficulties. They can’t get out of the way very easily.”

He added: “It is only a matter of time before somebody is quite seriously hurt. Maybe some people have been hurt as a consequence of this.

“But again they seem to be doing it with impunity, really. It happens far too regularly.

“I was walking back to the car park. There was somebody going up the high street, on the wrong side of the road, again an adult, not a child, on an electric bike against the traffic coming in that direction. It is alarming.”

He added: “I thought if a motorist hits that particular individual, the motorist will be found at fault or brought to book, rather than the individual riding the bike.

“But it seems to go on without any particular interference to stop this from happening. And again, they are passing me at 20 miles an hour in my car, whizzing by on electric bikes. It is a major concern.”

Panel chair Pat Astbury added: “And invariably, without helmets or insurance.”

Mr Dunbobbin said: “It was only a few weeks ago where we visited Bodelwyddan, where the e-bikes and e-scooters have been seized, and some of you may have picked up that article, and it is quite timely that you’ve brought it up again, Chris (Cllr Bithell), with Christmas not too far away now, and the temptation there for parents to be buying them for gifts for children.”

He said: “It’s probably worth mentioning that again about how to use these scooters and e-bikes legally and properly.

“You are quite right in saying how risky they are for pedestrians, especially those with disabilities, who may be in wheelchairs or have problems with their eyesight. They could be blind, anything. So really timely that you brought that up again.”

Illegal

The UK Government states that it is “illegal to ride a privately owned electric scooter (also known as an e-scooter) in public, for example on pavements, on roads or in parks”.

The UK Government said: “You could be fined and get penalty points on your driving licence. The scooter could also be seized by the police. You can only ride a privately owned electric scooter on private land with the permission of the landowner.”