After sharing a video on social media of policemen stealing an e-scooter from a woman and her four-year-old kid, a police department is receiving criticism.
The incident, which took place last week in Stroud, Gloucestershire, shows special road cops halting the couple as they are using the apparatus.
The usage of personal electric scooters is prohibited in several parts of the nation, including Gloucestershire.
Officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Specialist Operations Unit can be seen tailing the duo as they rise slowly down the sidewalk in a brief video that was released on Twitter.
Later, the police wrote that the offending scooter had been confiscated, saying that there had been “concerns made over a female utilizing an e scooter to carry a small kid on a regular basis.”
When OT61 arrived, he saw a 4-year-old being transferred in this manner and the vehicle being impounded.
The police were widely ridiculed after posting the footage on social media, with the general view being that they had gone too far.
One guy responded to the video by saying: “You snatched some pleasure from a 4-year-old.” Congratulations! removing candy from the school gate the next week.
An further individual called the cops’ behavior “total embarrassments to police”
Another pleaded, “Please let me know you’re a parody account.”
Electric scooters may currently only be rented lawfully in Gloucester and Cheltenham and then used across the county.
The 1988 Road Traffic Act, which also applies to Segways, hoverboards, go-peds (kick scooters powered by internal combustion engines), motorized unicycles, and u-wheels, according to the Department of Transportation, covers e-scooters.
Pedal bicycles with electrical assistance are exempt from the prohibition.
The Department of Transportation states that many standards must be met in order for motor vehicles to legally utilize public roadways. Insurance, adherence to technical and use requirements, payment of vehicle tax, licensing, and registration, driver testing and licensing, and the utilization of pertinent safety equipment are a few of these.
It may, in theory, be legal for the user of a powered transporter to traverse public roadways if they could satisfy these standards. It would be illegal to use them on the road since it is probable that they will find it very difficult to comply with all of these regulations.
The UK government passed laws in July 2020 to test out the 12-month renting of e-scooters via local governments and authorized rental firms. The speed limit for the cars is 15.5 mph. The trial takes place in 32 different places. The testing locations do not allow the usage of privately owned electric scooters.
With the approval of the landlord, privately owned e-scooters may be used on private property.
»Police angered after snatching a mother’s e-scooter as she rode with her kid«