Dorset Police is urging e-scooter riders to be aware of pedestrians and other road users after a four-year-old boy was injured in a collision along Bournemouth seafront.
At around 1pm on Friday 3 September 2021 Dorset Police was made aware that a collision had occurred on the promenade near to Boscombe Pier during the second day of the Bournemouth Air Festival.
The boy, from Christchurch, was taken to Poole Hospital for treatment to a suspected fractured collarbone. Officers have spoken to the e-scooter rider, a man aged in his 30s and from Lancashire, and interviewed him on suspicion of driving offences under The Road Traffic Act. An investigation into the collision is underway.
The e-scooter involved was hired through Beryl as part of a trial currently operating in Bournemouth and Poole, which allows individuals to hire an e-scooter from an official Government scheme and ride legally. These scooters have a reduced speed limit.
Privately owned e-scooters are currently illegal to use in public places such as pavements, cycle lanes, beach promenades or any publicly accessible land, such as parks.
Police Sergeant Lee Savage, of the traffic unit, said: “This collision happened during the Bournemouth Air Festival, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people visit the seafront with thousands more visitors expected over the weekend.
“We are yet again urging people not to ride either Beryl or privately-owned e-scooters inside the festival site because of the sheer number of people in the area and to help keep people safe.
“Throughout this weekend our officers and council staff will be stopping people riding e-scooters inside the festival site area. If they are privately-owned, they will be seized and if they are part of the Beryl scheme, riders will be encouraged to dismount. Should they commit any offences they will be dealt with under the Road Traffic Act.”
The illegal use of e-scooters remains an important element of Dorset Police’s Operation Relentless anti-social behaviour priority and this summer the Force has carried out two days of action. Individuals were asked to sign an agreement that they will stop using their e-scooter illegally on public roads. In total since the beginning of the year, more than 40 riders of privately owned e-scooters have been stopped and spoken to before being issued with warnings. Officers also have the power to seize e-scooters that are either found to be used illegally or involved in criminal activity.
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said: “This must have been a horrible experience for the young child involved and I wish him a speedy recovery, but this incident once again highlights the dangers posed by using e-scooters in public places.
“Please, if you’re travelling to the Air Festival this weekend on a Beryl e-scooter, don’t use it at the event itself – it’s far too busy. And, if you’re travelling in a public place on a private e-scooter, you run the risk of having the item seized.”
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