Calls have been made for new rules after rising number of accidents and being used in crime
The Department for Transport has given a new statement on potential plans to create a new law making e-bike and e-scooters have number plates. Currently concerns are rising at the number of accidents involving riders and pedestrians and the ability to trace the riders.
It comes after the Metropolitan Police started to utilise facial recognition technology to stamp out the use of illegal e-bikes because of their increasing use for dangerous riding and phone-snatching.
In a new Parliamentary written question Liberal Democrat Jess Brown-Fuller asked Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander: “If she will consider introducing number plates for e-bikes and e-scooters.” In reply Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport Lilian Greenwood said if new laws are drawn up there would be ‘extensive consultation’ carried out first.
She said: “Introducing a number plate system on e-bikes would be complex and expensive to design and administer. It would also require fitting registration plates that were sufficiently visible and robust and could not easily be transferred from one cycle to another. A previous detailed review of this idea concluded that the cost and complexity of introducing such a system would far outweigh the benefits.
“Regarding private e-scooters, they are currently illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements. The Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, when parliamentary time allows. Any regulations, which could include a potential requirement for number plates, will be consulted on before they come into force so that all interested parties have a chance to shape the new regime.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the technology is one of the biggest innovations in fighting crime in decades and has already helped catch thousands of criminals. E-bikes have become a growing concern in the capital Sir Mark said police cameras can work fast enough to scan the faces of illegal e-bike riders who can then be stopped in specialised operations.
Ministers are seeking to ramp up police use of facial recognition to fight crime. But the technology has faced criticism, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission describing the Met Police’s policy on use of live facial recognition technology as “unlawful” earlier this year.
The equalities watchdog said the rules and safeguards around the force’s use of the technology “fall short” and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights when used at protests. Currently, police use three types of facial recognition: retrospective, used in criminal investigations to search images from crime scenes against images of people taken on arrest; live, using live video footage of people passing cameras and comparing their images with a list of wanted people; and operator-initiated, a mobile app that allows officers to check someone’s identity without arresting them.
The Home Office funded £12.6 million in facial recognition last year, with £2.8 million spent on national live facial recognition, including mobile vans and fixed location pilots.
Sir Mark said the Met has been seizing e-bikes at an increasing rate. He added: “This issue comes up in every borough. It comes up whether you talk about it in inner city boroughs, or Westminster, and then in outer London, in places like Bromley and Kingston, it keeps coming up.
“That’s why we’re making a big point about this.” Sir Mark said “tremendously powerful” facial recognition technology has helped the force arrest the best part of 1,000 criminals over the last year, including those guilty of serious offences and sex crimes.
He said: “It has many uses and it will pick up people that speed, so it will pick up people on e-bikes and in all sorts of situations.
“It’s one of the biggest innovations in fighting crime we’ve seen in decades and that’s why we’re investing more in it, and Londoners will see more bad people taken off the streets through facial recognition than they have in previous years.”
Sir Mark added that rules around e-bikes and e-scooters are clear and “pretty tough”, with e-bike motors required to cut out at 15.5mph and e-scooters banned in London unless they are hire scooters.
Police have found some are illegally modified to reach faster speeds or to enable them to be powered without the pedals being turned. Conversion kits are available online for as little as £300.
E-bikes travelling above 15.5mph are treated as motorbikes, which must be registered, taxed and insured, and are seized by police if they break the law.
Once an illegal e-bike has been seized, the hazardous and recyclable parts are removed and the bike is crushed down.
