Taxi drivers urged to ban passengers with e-scooters by TfL after spate of fireshttps://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-n ... s-22890288
London’s taxi drivers are being urged by Transport for London to consider banning e-scooters and e-unicycles over safety fears.
An internal document from TfL confirms that the body has written to all licenced cabbies asking them to consider whether it is “appropriate” to continue carrying passengers with e-scooters given a spate of battery fires in the capital.
TfL has issued a notice making around 100,000 cabbies “aware that they are not compelled to transport” the vehicles.
Taxi passengers will be made aware that they may be refused carriage if they have an e-scooter or e-unicycle with them.
It follows an e-scooter ban by TfL from December 13, after shocking footage emerged of an e-scooter on fire being thrown out of a District line train as it entered Parsons Green station in November.
Customers trying to board TfL services with an e-scooter are now banned from doing so across the network, including the Tube, buses, Overground, TfL Rail, Trams and DLR.
A TfL review had found that defective lithium-ion batteries in the devices “ruptured” without warning - leading to several evacuations as smoke billowed out from carriages in 2021.
The mayor-led body found a risk of “significant harm” to customers and staff if a fully-fledged fire broke out on a bus or Tube.
The warning comes after several e-scooter fires this year in London.
An e-scooter fire on Chichele Road in Willesden two weeks ago saw a one-roomed flat completely destroyed, with four adults and a child having to be rescued by crews and led to safety.
They suffered from smoke inhalation while one man also suffered burns.
Whilst privately owned e-scooters remain illegal to use in public spaces, they are widely available for purchase.
Private e-scooters and e-unicycles are currently unregulated, meaning they are not currently required to meet any minimum vehicle standards.
TfL is currently running a trial of rental e-scooters, which began in June 2021 - the only e-scooters legally allowed on London’s roads.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, a Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member who is campaigning for tighter safety controls, told MyLondon: “The fire risks from e-scooter batteries need to be taken far more seriously. Restrictions on them being taken in confined spaces such as taxis are almost certainly necessary following the restrictions already introduced for public transport.
“However, the far bigger issue is their storage in homes and flats....Much clearer safety guidance about their storage in homes and especially flats is desperately needed.”
In December Lilli Matson, TfL’s Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer, said: “Our primary concern is always for the safety of our customers and staff. We have been extremely worried by the recent incidents on our public transport services, which involved intense fires and considerable smoke and damage.”
A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesperson said: “Batteries can present a fire risk if they’re over-charged, short circuited, submerged in water or damaged, so it’s really important to protect them against being damaged and charge them safely.”
Last year the LFB was called to over 50 fires involving e-scooters and e-bikes, MyLondon understands.
TfL’s ban was welcomed by the London Fire Brigade.
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