What’s wrong with electric scooters?

Less than a year into e-scooter trials, ministers are coming under pressure to ban the new transport technology, with concerned critics claiming they need to be made safe and the public educated on the law. Matthew Scott, Kent’s police and crime commissioner (PCC), has written to the Transport Secretary calling for a clampdown on electric scooter usage. Given the government’s fondness for the precautionary principle, it wouldn’t come as a huge shock if it capitulated to the quibbles of a tiny minority, however weak their opposition may be.

There’s actually little to dislike about e-scooters. For a start, they’re no more dangerous than many other forms of transport. We don’t ban cars or bicycles — we try to provide a safe environment where they can be used. Many of the PCC’s objections relate to rogue scooter riders, but there is a behavioural economics case to be made here: allow widespread use and good will drive out bad.