Nottingham e-scooter return branded 'backward step' for safety

A charity for the blind and visually impaired says the reintroduction of around 1,300 e-scooters to Nottingham’s streets will “only bring danger and anti-social behaviour” despite a new operator promising a raft of safety measures.

Nottingham City Council announced on Wednesday (January 22) that a new operator, Dott, had been found to host a network of e-scooters across the city. An e-scooter hire pilot first launched in October 2020 but the most recent operator, Superpedestrian, closed down its operations in the UK in December 2023. All e-scooters were withdrawn from the city’s streets as a result.

The Department for Transport is working on new laws for e-scooters, but decided to extend all trials for a longer period of time up until May 2026. Dott will now continue to run the scheme in Nottingham, and around 1,300 e-scooters will be made available from 300 parking locations across the city.

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The launch has been announced as ‘early spring’, with no firm date provided. But the news has prompted concerns from the National Federation of the Blind (NFBUK).

The charity, which works to improve the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired, previously described Nottingham’s e-scooter pilot scheme as “simply not safe”.

Sarah Gayton, Street Access Campaign Coordinator for the charity, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is a backward step for Nottingham. The reintroduction of rented e-scooters will only bring danger and anti-social behaviour to the pavements of the city.

“It does not matter how many controls or restrictions are placed on them, they will not be ridden or left in a manner that is safe for vulnerable pedestrians. Creating fear, anxiety, and danger to blind, deaf-blind, partially sighted, and older people, who cannot move out of the way of them when they whizz past them, many at speed, on the pavements.

“The e-scooters will also create an instant trip hazard. It is clear from other trials we have visited that the dangerous riding or parking of rented e-scooters is still a serious problem which has not been resolved.

“It is clear that this problem will arise in Nottingham again, and put blind people at a serious and dangerous disadvantage of accessing pavements and public spaces in Nottingham.”

The Labour-run council says “key lessons” around parking have been learned from previous e-scooter trials, while money from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund has also been used to install 275 racks for e-bikes and e-scooters to improve parking.

Original e-scooter parking spots have now been reviewed, and those not meeting the council’s parking criteria will be removed.

Nottingham City Council’s leader and executive member for strategic regeneration, transport and communications, Cllr Neghat Khan (Lab), said: “By offering an alternative to car journeys, e-scooters will play a key role in easing congestion and lowering harmful emissions in our city. This aligns with our commitment to improving air quality and promoting greener travel for all our residents and visitors.”

'Education and training' for riders

Dott says it will provide education and training options for first-time riders, including a mandatory quiz before riding, a ‘beginner mode’ which reduces speed for the first three rides, and in-person training events.

The e-scooters will be fitted with technology to stop them working outside the city’s boundaries. It will also enable the council to create low speed or no go zones.

The e-scooters will have pay-as-you-go pricing at 29p per minute. Pass options will also be available, including a pass costing £2.99 a month to unlock unlimited £2 rides.

Peadar Golden, UK general manager, added: “As a responsible operator, Dott is bringing its experience from more than 400 cities to ensure its service is carefully integrated into the city, offering safety and reliability for riders together with orderly streets for pedestrians."

It is currently illegal to use E-scooters in public places in the UK, except in designated trial areas such as Nottingham.

They must only be ridden on roads and cycle lanes in trial areas, and not on pavements. Police have the power to issue £50 fixed penalty notices to anyone caught riding them incorrectly.