e-scooter rider crashes into a car in Hertfordshire

e-scooter rider crashes into a car in Hertfordshire
This is the horrifying moment a careless e-scooter rider ploughed straight into a 4x4 after speeding through a junction without looking.

The reckless man narrowly avoided injury and even death when he rammed into the car.

In dashcam footage of the smash at 6.52pm on 6 July the rider appears oblivious to oncoming traffic as he scooted straight out into a busy road.

Three people died in e-scooter crashes between January 2020 and June 2021, according to the government website.

Official figures showed a 278 per cent increase in the number of e-scooter collisions between 2020 and 2021.

The use of e-scooters is limited to a handful of trial schemes in cities such as Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol.

Currently it is illegal to use private ones on the road and in public spaces.

This is set to change as the Department of Transport intends to legalise the devices.

Each vehicle will be capped at a 15 mile per hour speed limit and will be compelled to be fitted with automatic lights.

More than one million e-scooters are reported to be on Britain's roads, with many of them being used illegally.

If riders are caught using them unlawfully they face being smacked with six penalty points on their licence.

E-scooter revenue is expected to hit $145.60m by 2026 in the UK, according to Statista, up from almost nothing in 2017.

The data company said the number of users is expected to hit 6.1m by 2026.

What are the laws on e-scooters?
Renting an e-scooter is the only way to legally ride the vehicle on some public roads or in other public place at the moment.

But the controversial vehicles could be approved for use across the UK following a trial period. Currently, 10 London boroughs are taking part in the scheme with three providers to test how e-scooters work on the capital's roads.

Riding e-scooters on the pavement however is banned, and riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence to rent one.

It is also illegal to use privately owned e-scooters or other powered transporters on public roads.

Relevant laws on e-scooter use include:

On public roads, anyone using a privately owned e-scooter or other powered transporter is likely to be committing at least one of a number of offences such as driving a motor vehicle with no insurance. You could be liable for a fixed penalty of £300 and six points on your driving licence

On pavements, it is generally an offence to drive a motor vehicle, and this applies at all times to e-scooters and powered transporters

E-scooters and powered transporters may be used on private land with permission from the landowner or occupier

E-scooters rented from the TfL scheme will be permitted to ride on London's public roads and cycle infrastructure in participating boroughs.

These boroughs will designate no-go areas where e-scooters cannot be ridden and will come to a safe stop, as well as go-slow areas, where the speed of e-scooters will be reduced to 8mph