Private escooters banned on London’s public transport over fire concerns
And the same goes for e-unicycles
Defective batteries
A review found the fires had been caused by defective lithium-ion batteries which ruptured without warning, leading to toxic smoke being released.
Batteries are thought to be at risk if re-powered with the wrong chargers.
While privately owned e-scooters remain illegal to use in public spaces, they are widely available for purchase and are a common sight on UK roads – despite a crackdown by police over the past year.
London has been trialling a shared e-scooter scheme since June, with micromobility operators and TfL stressing the rental e-scooters have more robust safety features than those bought privately.
The ban will include all e-scooters and e-unicycles, but does not include mobility scooters or foldable e-bikes.
TfL says that e-bikes are “generally subject to better manufacturing standards” and batteries are usually positioned in a place where they are less likely to be damaged and cause a fire risk.
Non-foldable e-bikes will continue to be allowed on some parts of the network atcertain times of the day.
‘Growing concerns’
London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, Paul Jennings, said: “We have growing concerns about the safety of e-scooters due to the amount of fires we are seeing involving them, so we fully support TfL’s ban of private e-scooters on public transport.
“Fires are dangerous and terrifying wherever they happen, but a fire on the transport network has the potential to become very serious very quickly and involve hundreds of people, particularly on trains where evacuation may be challenging, so anything that can be done to mitigate that risk is a positive step.”
Story byCities Today
Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.
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