Medway residents are saying they're scared for safety as the number of e-scooter users continues to rise
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00:00 A common sight on our high street today.
00:03 Riders say they're cheap and convenient, but the law says they're illegal.
00:08 Riding an e-scooter can land you with a £300 fine and six points on your licence.
00:15 And there have been around 1,400 incidents in the past year, up from 450 in the previous.
00:23 And these are only the reported incidents.
00:26 Today in Dillingham, it really didn't take long to find someone who had been hit by one.
00:31 I was just walking out of the shop and I nearly hit one.
00:34 He said I was in the wrong.
00:36 Well, he was in the wrong because he went straight past me.
00:38 Yeah, up at the top of the road here, there was two people on them.
00:44 And basically, I see him come in and I said, before he got to me, I told him he should be on the road.
00:53 And he more or less drove straight at me.
00:56 Kent's police and crime commissioner has put a warning out to parents saying
00:59 they're the most dangerous Christmas present you can buy.
01:02 He claims trial schemes haven't helped.
01:05 We had a pilot scheme in Canterbury, for example, and we've got schemes in London.
01:10 And the number one criticism I get back when I articulate these views about e-scooters is exactly that.
01:15 Well, how come I can go to London and rent one?
01:17 And I think that is at the heart of this confusion in that because of these public rental schemes,
01:22 people have believed they are legal when they're not.
01:24 So there's been an awful lot of confusion around the law on e-scooters as a result of some of these pilot programmes.
01:30 Although it might be against the law to ride one, it isn't against the law to sell or buy one.
01:36 I'm taking a look at EnviroRide's website.
01:39 They're an e-scooter seller based in Ashford, and I can pick one up for around about £430 if I'd like to.
01:47 But from other retailers, well, they're even cheaper.
01:50 And the company says they must inform any possible customer of the rules and regulations regarding e-scooters.
01:57 But many people in Gillingham today say they're concerned for their safety.
02:00 Yeah, I am. I think they do seem to be quite dangerous.
02:03 The people who ride them don't often seem to be wearing crash helmets.
02:10 Because, you know, you've got to look after your people.
02:12 You can't just run into people and things, you know what I mean?
02:15 You know, they're coming down the road on a black scooter, wearing black clothes at night.
02:20 They come up to you so quickly that I feel very vulnerable.
02:26 As Christmas Day fast approaches, hundreds across Kent will be hoping to receive an e-scooter under their tree.
02:32 But Kent Police says their warnings are strong and they will enforce them.
02:37 Gabriel Morris for KENTV in Gillingham.