Educate parents on law-breaking e-bikes and risk of buying them for children, says police chief

Published: 17:55, 22 August 2026 | Updated: 17:57, 22 August 2026 Parents are unwittingly encouraging their children to break the law by buying them e bikes or e scooters, a police and crime commissioner has claimed, calling on the government to do more to educate them. Donna Jones, who works across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said many parents do not know that all electric scooters and some electric bikes, unless they met strict regulations, were illegal to ride on public roads. ‘Parents can buy them online or in High Street stores – some don’t realise that by buying them that they are encouraging their young people to break the law – it’s the same as an electric scooter – if you are using a proper one through a hire scheme in your local town – that’s not a problem – but if you are buying one from a High Street store or online – you are actually encouraging your child to commit a crime and become a criminal because it is illegal to use these scooters.’ Calling on the Department for Transport to run a high-profile education campaign like the ‘clunk click every trip and seatbelts back in the 80s’, she said: ‘People need to realise that they are breaking the law or encouraging their children to break the law if they buy these bikes and scooters.’ She also warned that far more skilled police riders were needed to intercept the illegal two-wheel vehicles which were plaguing the UK’s streets, calling on the government to help more. The government has previously defended itself against claims of inaction on e scooters and bikes by saying it has already granted extra powers for police to seize them. But Ms Jones said the vehicles could only be seized if officers could catch up with their riders. A man riding an e-scooter across London Bridge during the rush hour She said her force has now invested in special off-road unmarked dirt bikes to pursue some of the illegal riders. She said: ‘A lot are going in excess of 40-50 mph because they have been modified and it’s very, very difficult for the police to catch them - so while they have powers to seize and crush them if they are modified - particularly in connection with crime - it is physically catching them that is the issue. ‘They are off through alleyways, parks and housing estates so if a police officer is on a normal e bike, they just can’t keep up with them.’ However, she said for police to have a level playing field to tackle the growing scourge, they had to be skilled in how to catch and stop e bikes and scooters and not enough police currently were. ‘You have to be incredibly careful because the way you stop someone on one of these bikes is like a tactical hit when you are trying to stop a car,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme today. ‘It does take bravery from the police officers and it takes a special amount of skill. We don’t have enough police officers who are skilled to do this across all of our towns and bigger towns and cities where these bikes are an issue so there really is a significant problem here and the government really need to be supporting towns and communities in this.’ Tony Campbell, Chief Executive of the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), said more should be done to educate people about legal and illegal e bikes – those with pedal assistance of over 250 watts, which should cut speed assistance off when a bike reaches 15.5mph. Earlier this summer, the MCIA wrote to every police chief constable, and all the police and crime commissioners about the issue and developed a guide to help them spot illegal bikes. The Met seized a record 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters this year He said: ‘What came out regularly from different forces, was how to interpret what’s legal and what isn’t. So, we decided to put together a document that helps the police to easily identify an illegal e-bike at the roadside.’ He accused the delivery sector of not doing enough to stamp out the illegal use of e bikes and scooters by its operatives. ‘A high proportion of illegal e bikes are being used by delivery drivers. The government need to take a closer look at what the regulation says,’ he told the BBC. ‘The large organisations turn a blind eye to the fact the services they are employing are being delivered on illegal vehicles.’ And he warned that unless more was done to tackle the issue, it would also affect traders who sold ‘legal bikes’ whose business had been ‘significantly damaged by the emergence of illegal high powered e bikes.’