Redditch MP and Transport Minister Rachel Maclean has warned retailers they face legal action for failing to tell buyers of electric scooters where they can legally ride.
Although electric scooters are available for purchase free of charge in the UK, it is illegal to drive them on UK roads or sidewalks – unless they are rented from a licensed operator.
The minister said online stores and retailers were breaking the law by failing to carry clear warnings that private vehicles are banned everywhere except on private land, according to the Times.
Read more: Redditch residents split over electric scooters as police launch crackdown
Ms Maclean said: “It is very clear that they are breaking the law and misinforming consumers if they do not clearly do so at the point of sale.”
This means that stores and online retailers that sell electric scooters to cyclists without clearly warning them of this law could face prosecution.
Local council business standards departments could be the prosecution teams.
According to The Times, electric scooters sold in Halfords already come with a warning that they “should not be used on public roads, cycle paths or sidewalks”.
Electric scooters can be used legally on the roads and cycle paths if rented from licensed operators, such as in 50 cities across the country, including Redditch and Birmingham.
Redditch became the first British city in the UK to publicly test Bird’s electric scooters in an effort to encourage a greener form of commuting in the city center and has since spread to more neighborhoods.
The vehicles, which can reach 40 mph, are limited to 15 mph when rented – but some have called for a total ban on scooters.
National Police have seized thousands of illegally used electric scooters this year – 2,000 in London alone.
West Mercia police cracked down on illegal use of electric scooters in June following “isolated incidents”.
It coincided with a call to stop a similar trial in Birmingham after it emerged there had been at least five seriously injured in the city.
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