Written question WQ92934
- Asked by
- Gareth DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 2 days
Question
What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of the safety of pedestrians, in relation to electric scooters?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Safety is one of our main concerns in considering the potential introduction of e-scooters. It is currently illegal to use an e-scooter on a UK public road, cycle lane or pavement, except where it is used as part of a UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) sponsored trial scheme. No trials are currently operating or planned in Wales.
The majority of the powers to regulate the use of e-scooters are vested in the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Transport, rather than the Welsh Ministers, and the regulation of the construction and use of e-scooters in Wales is currently a reserved matter and therefore a matter on which the UK Parliament, rather than the Senedd, can legislate. We have corresponded with a previous Secretary of State to raise the issue of safety as one of the Welsh Government’s main concerns in considering the potential introduction of e-scooters in Wales.
We have also engaged with stakeholders, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in Wales amongst others, to understand the potential impact on all users of roads and pavements.