ommuters who bring e-scooters to LondonThe transport network is now being prosecuted and fined for fear that the electric vehicles could catch fire.
Transport to London announced a ban on e-scooters and e-unicycles last December, which was applied everywhere busesTube trainsthe overhead lines and the tram network.
It followed two safety alerts in quick succession when an electric unicycle was left behind on a Jubilee Line train caught firework in Stanmore and a District Line train had to be evacuated at Parsons Green when an e-Scooter burst into flames†
The prosecution of passengers caught violating the new rule has now begun, with at least ten people already brought before a magistrate in London.
Kye Mitchell, 23, of Hackney, was arrested on 3 April at Baker Street station when he broke the barriers with an e-Scooter after traveling from Highbury and Islington stations.
“At 11:52 am I was standing on the unpaid side of the barrier when I saw a male passenger, who I now know is Mr Kye Mitchell, go through the barriers while in possession of an e-Scooter,” TfL officer Abdellatif Naili wrote in his testimony.
“I heard the customer service representative tell Mr. Mitchell that it was forbidden to take e-Scooters on the network, but he ignored him.
The number of pedestrians injured after being hit by e-scooters was almost four times higher in 2021 than the year before, new figures show (Yui Mok/PA)
† PA wire“I then approached Mr. Mitchell and I identified myself and I told him that e-Scooters were not allowed on the network and that he was now violating TfL regulations.”
Mr Naili said Mitchell “claimed he was never told” and added that he “uses my e-Scooter on the network all the time”.
Mitchell was charged with possessing a potentially dangerous item on Transport for London’s regional rail network in violation of an ordinance.
He did not plead and was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of £220 with £200 costs and a victim allowance of £34.
Another passenger, 35-year-old Thomas Hemsworth of Esher in Surrey, launched a furious attack on the “disgusting” TfL prosecutor after he was caught taking an e-Scooter on the tram from Mitcham to Wimbledon.
“This is basically the big guy picking the little guy. Bully tactics,” said the former British Army soldier and ex-TfL worker.
He said he was in the first week of a new job when he was caught on April 27, stressing there are no signs on the tram link warning passengers of the rules.
“To be labeled a criminal for making an honest accident like this is disgusting,” he said.
“A simple warning by a TfL staff would have been fine. Like I said, bullying tactics. I’ve seen many people take electric scooters on the tram and unfolded bicycles, so your signs are clearly not clear enough.
TfL officer William Simpson told the court that Hemsworth was arrested at 4pm as he got off the tram, suggesting he could be fined up to £1,000.
“I don’t have a thousand pounds,” he replied. “I did not know that.”
Upon assessment by a magistrate, Hemsworth – who pleaded guilty – was ordered to pay a fine of £40, as well as £50 in costs and a £34 victim allowance.
Fines of £220 have generally been imposed on offenders not engaged in the legal process.
When the ban was first announced, TfL Chief Safety Officer Lilli Matson said: “We are extremely concerned about the recent incidents on our public transport services, which have resulted in severe fires and significant smoke and damage.
“We have been working with the London Fire Brigade to determine how to handle these devices and after that assessment we have decided to ban them.”
All prosecutions are brought through the Single Justice Procedure, where a magistrate decides cases behind closed doors on the basis of paperwork alone and not in a public trial.