From the Vice-Chair of the Parish Council.
Concerns have been expressed about teenagers riding e-scooters at several locations around the village, this may appear to be a bit of harmless fun but riding a privately owned e-Scooter on the public highway (which includes the pavement) is illegal. These e-scooters are classed as ‘motorised vehicles’ so, like any other motorised vehicle, if they are used on the public highway they need to meet the regulations for road vehicles such as having lights and insurance. Furthermore, the rider is required to have a driving licence with a category Q entitlement. Should anyone be caught riding a private e-scooter on the public highway they could face a fine, they could get penalty points on their licence (if they don’t yet have a licence the points could be ‘banked’ until they do) and the e-scooter could be impounded.
Concerns have been expressed beyond keeping to the above legal requirements. The evening of 9 August some e-scooter riders turned right into Highfield Rise cutting across the path of an oncoming car as they did so and the evening of 10 August an e-scooter nearly had a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle in the Salisbury Road which, at the very least, would have resulted in injury to the scooter rider. If your child is one of those illegally riding an e-Scooter on the public highway I urge you to stop them before they are caught by the police (who are now aware of this issue) or are involved in an accident.
More information on the legal use of e-scooters is available here and here.
Action needs to be taken before somebody gets seriously hurt or worse. Shrewton Parish Council what are you going to do about this menace on our roads?
This may need taking up with the camp site too. Visitors will need to be informed of the need to comply as a condition of using the site. This again should really come from the council to avoid any animosity.