Peter Hitchens questions the safety and transport value of escooters

Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation

As decision-makers in the highway and travel technology sectors face mounting pressure to innovate sustainable transport options, this week's episode of Highways Voices dives into the rise of electric scooters, exploring whether they truly align with safety, environmental, and efficiency goals—or if they’re adding to the chaos.

Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens really doesn't think so, and today he discusses the broader implications of transport policies designed around them, questioning their affect on the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, and how safe they are when they're sharing roadspace with traffic. He also questions the hidden environmental costs, and their effect on enforcement.

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While this interview was recorded during Covid times in 2021, the issue remains close to his heart, as he wrote only last week. In it he quoted statistics showing 29 people died and nearly 5,000 were injured – 1,402 seriously – between 2020 and 2023, including Linda Davis, a 71-year-old grandmother, who was killed in 2022 when a 14-year-old, glued to his phone, mowed her down while riding an escooter.

"That's to say nothing of the risks posed by the flammable lithium batteries powering them," he wrote, " – "which are thought to have sparked more than 36 e-scooter fires in 2023 alone".

Don’t miss this critical discussion —play the episode to uncover an alternative view about e-scooters and what it means for the future of transport.