A Highgate father whose daughter was knocked down by an e-scooter driver riding on a pavement has co-founded a campaign to regulate the currently illegal mode of transport.
Just Stick a Reg On It is a campaign set up by Ashe Medforth along with other parents of children seriously injured by e-scooters.
He said by making registration plates a mandatory addition to all e-scooters, this will make drivers identifiable. Drivers would become accountable and will be encouraged to use the scooters in a safer way.
Ashe runs a small company, S.H.A.D.O. Works Partnership, a specialist e-vehicle research and design workshop. Ashe advises the Home Office on e-scooters through the Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety and he also invests in a legal e-scooters company.
He stressed that Just Stick a Reg On It is "not against e-scooters", they want them to be better controlled. The group has noticed large numbers of e-scooter drivers riding on pavements or going too fast.
Sadly, the consequences of this was experienced by Ashe's five-year-old daughter Holly last year.
A week before starting at Highgate Primary School, Holly and Ashe cycled down Holloway Road in a cargo bike.
"Holly gets out of the bike still wearing a helmet and bang, a scooter comes along. She gets hit. The rider comes off as well, and the way the scooter falls on her, the handlebars go into the helmet, which splits the helmet nearly in two," Ashe said.
Ashe said the rider demanded he paid for the scooter to be repaired, pointing at a cash machine and asking him to withdraw £200. He drove off and has "never been caught".
Holly was taken to the Whittington Hospital. She had three fractured ribs and a mild concussion.
"However, the neurologist said that had she not been wearing the helmet, she'd have permanent brain damage," Ashe said.
A government spokesperson said: “Safety will always be our top priority and our trials are helping us to better understand the benefits of properly regulated, safety-tested e-scooters and their impact on public space.
“While riding a privately owned e-scooter on public land is currently illegal, we are considering how best to design future regulations. Our Transport Bill will enable us to take the steps we need to support innovation, robustly crack down on irresponsible use and make e-scooters safer.”
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