Exclusive:Electric scooters: ‘Inevitability’ about legal use in Scotland with possible trial, says transport secretary Fiona Hyslop

Cabinet secretary says staging a demonstration project important but raises safety concerns.

Electric scooters will “inevitably” be legalised and there could be a trial on Scotland’s roads, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop has told The Scotsman.

The comments signal a possible policy shift by Transport Scotland, which has previously shown no enthusiasm to follow the lead of dozens of experimental rental schemes in England, which were given the green light by the UK government in 2020.

All e-scooters are illegal on roads and pavements in Scotland and can only be ridden legally on private land with the permission of the landowner.

Fiona Hyslop has left the door open on a possible Scottish trial of electric scooters. (Photo by Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman)

However, they can be bought legally, and have become a common sight in cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, sparking concerns about pedestrian safety.

The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has permitted the 22 rental trials south of the Border to be extended four times, the latest until May 2026, while it continues to assess their worth. Privately-owned e-scooters remain banned on roads and the DfT is still considering whether they should be legalised across Britain.

The trials were announced in the midst of the Covid pandemic. But Transport Scotland, in a clear sign of annoyance at not being included, said it had been given no prior notice and the separate relevant legislation north of the Border had not been factored in.

A small number of Scottish councils, including Glasgow, have expressed interest in staging a trial. But they have been told that new laws would be required to permit these in Scotland, and there has been no sign of any move to introduce them.

Concerns have been raised about pedestrian safety from e-scooters being illegally being ridden on pavements. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

Asked if she would like to see e-scooters legalised in Scotland, Ms Hyslop said: "I think there's an inevitability that electric scooters will be part of transport in the future.” But the Cabinet secretary said public opinion was “quite polarised” and there were “genuine safety issues”.

E-scooters have been involved in several fatal and serious injury incidents. In September last year, Paris became one of the first cities to ban rental e-scooters following a series of collisions. They have also been banned by several train operators, including ScotRail, because of the fire risk after several blazes in London.

Ms Hyslop said: “Electric scooters are a challenge for everybody. I've seen the statistics on injuries for electric scooter users and that's problematic.”

She said one of her chief concerns was the impact of e-scooters on pedestrians and cyclists. In the English trials, e-scooters can be used in cycle lanes and on shared walking/cycling paths.

Ms Hyslop said: "When you're looking at a shared space, we want to encourage people to do more walking and cycling, and whether that's compromised by an electric scooter – that's a danger."

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However, the transport secretary left the door open on a possible Scottish trial. She said: "Because I think there's an inevitability [about their future use], I think it's important that we do look at schemes.

"It's not a current priority for us, and anything we did would be in consideration to the timing of what we do with more bus lanes and active travel lanes. They would all have to be managed at the same time to have sensible use of electric scooters.

"I'm not saying no to a potential trial, but I think a lot of different, other enabling factors, including confidence in the safety issues and the provision of confidence for people who are walking and wheeling with comfort, would have to be considered."

Since e-scooters remain illegal on roads, should the police do more to enforce the law?

Ms Hyslop said: "That's a conversation I'd have with Police Scotland as to how much difficulty that is causing or not, but we need to have a sensible assessment of it.”

She also observed: “I think a lot of people buy them thinking they are [legal]. A lot of the issue is insurance and sale – it's legal to sell [them], but not legal to use."

Police Scotland said it made an “appropriate response” to reports of illegal e-scooter use. Its spokesperson said: “E-scooters can only be legally used on private land with permission from the landowner. Their illegal use can impact local communities and anyone with concerns should contact us, so an appropriate policing response can be provided.

"We also urge anyone purchasing an e-scooter to be aware of the law and the implications of using one in a public place."

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The Scottish Conservatives backed a trial so Scotland could gather its own evidence of the merits of e-scooters. Transport spokesperson Graham Simpson said: “There have been trials in England, but for some reason the Scottish Government did not want to see how things might work here.

"Given that we have no evidence of our own, Fiona Hyslop should look down south to see how things have gone. The fact is that people do use e-scooters already. I see them all the time in Edinburgh and Glasgow, even though they are illegal.

"So it would be a good idea to have a trial here and then decide how to proceed.”

However, that prospect rang alarm bells for Living Streets Scotland, which campaigns for pedestrians.

David Hunter, convener of its Edinburgh group, said: “I would advise extreme caution in starting any trials of e-scooters, bearing in mind the certainty that they will be used on pavements and that the police do not have the capacity to take enforcement action.

"It is the most vulnerable pedestrians – older and disabled people – that will be put at risk from irresponsible use. I'd prefer to see the spotlight on getting our current walking and cycling facilities right.”

A potential Scottish trial was welcomed by shared transport group Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) which said the rental trials in England were very popular.CoMoUK chief executive Richard Dilks said: “It is good to hear that Fiona Hyslop is open to running e-scooter trials in Scotland, and we would encourage the Scottish and UK Governments to work together to make this happen.“All the signs so far point to the trials of shared e-scooters in England being a huge success, with 2.7 million users taking 42.2 millions trips between July 2020 and November 2023.“Our research has also shown that serious safety incidents are rare, with only one accident for every 500,000 trips.“People’s perceptions of shared e-scooters are undoubtedly clouded by the conduct of riders of privately owned e-scooters, which are totally unregulated.“This is why we would like the UK Government to move forward with plans to legalise e-scooters as soon as possible, ensuring that they can be used safely and responsibly.“At the moment the UK is being left behind while other countries zip ahead of us by embracing this cheap, low emission form of transport.”