Eastbourne security consultant calls for crackdown on e-scooters and e-bikes

Hunter Seymour, who lives by Princes Park, wants the authorities to prevent them being used in pedestrianised areas of the town centre – such as Terminus Road.

The 76-year-old said: “I have seen some near misses and I have been brushed sometimes by someone on an e-cycle.

“It could be fatal because you have this disproportionate weight and it could fall on elderly people or children for goodness sake. Lets think of children and infants.”

He added: “There are a number of e-vehicles around very, very old people and what if they should fall on someone? It is just absurd. It is an irrationality of modern life.”

Mr Seymour explained that although there is a sign on the corner of Terminus Road and Bolton Road stating that the area is a pedestrian and cycle zone, it doesn’t explicitly ban e-scooters and e-bikes.

He said: “I know they [police and Eastbourne Borough Council] have got to step up and prevent it by whatever means by preparing signage and making up their minds one way or another."

He added: “This is a real health and safety debate and a really important one.”

He also suggested that some possible solutions may include better signage banning e-scooters and e-bikes, a greater presence to prevent use, and for cycle lanes to be installed in the town centre and along the seafront – where Mr Seymour also said there is an issue with e-scooters and e-bikes on the promenade.

A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “We respond to any reports of anti-social or dangerous cycling and take proportionate action where offenders are caught. It remains illegal for e-scooters to be used on public roads and in public places as there are currently no legal ways to register, insure and tax them as a powered vehicle.

“Owners are reminded that they risk being arrested, having their item seized, and being prosecuted for road traffic offences if they are seen using e-scooters in public.”

Eastbourne Borough Council has been contacted for a comment.

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