Conservative Councillor Matt Bennett has called for an immediate rollout of mandatory e-scooter parking across the entire pilot area in Birmingham, saying the at the move is “urgently needed on the grounds of safety”.
As part of the e-scooter pilot currently taking place in Birmingham, the scooter hire company Voi have announced that they will be making some changes to how riders collect and park their e-scooters in Birmingham City Centre. They have stated that they will be moving to a mandatory parking model, which means that scooters will now have to be parked in a designated parking area and cannot be locked outside those areas. This is already in place on Birmingham University Campus.
However, across the majority of the areas in city that form part of the pilot, including Cllr Bennett’s Edgbaston ward and in neighbouring Harborne, scooters can still be left anywhere, causing obstructions on pavements which are a particular danger to those with visual impairments.
Councillor Bennett said, “The announcement from Voi is a great first step, but it simply does not go far enough. Complaints about scooters being ridden or left on the pavements are one of the most common issues we are dealing with in Edgbaston at the moment – I personally report several instances every week, but see many more where I am unable to spot the registration number in time to report it.”
Cllr Bennett added “Riding on the pavement and antisocial behaviour are perhaps more difficult to prevent automatically, but the parking issue is easily solvable and, indeed Voi are implementing a solution. So why not apply it everywhere and not just in the city centre and University campus? Residents with disabilities or with young children should not to navigate their way around discarded scooters when a solution is readily available and being used elsewhere? This move is urgently needed on the grounds of safety”
Cllr Bennett’s concerns are supported within a document presented to the Department of Transport by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBU) which concluded;
"The NFBUK recommends that rentable e-scooter trials are halted with immediate effect. They are dangerous and creating unsafe environments for blind, partially sighted, deaf-blind, elderly and disabled people, people using mobility aids and parents with young children, and all other pedestrians, in town and city centres.
The observations of the rider behaviours witnessed in the Coventry, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Northampton trials is terrifying, with reckless and dangerous riding being continually witnessed, during 12 site visits. The dockless model of rentable e-scooters is creating serious and dangerous obstructions and trip hazards in the urban environment.”
