Drunk E-scooter Rider Stopped by Police While Using Motorway to Get Home

Drunk E-scooter Rider Stopped by Police While Using Motorway to Get Home
Handout screengrab issued by Central Motorway Police Group/West Midlands Police of a drunken e-scooter rider who was stopped by police while using the Aston Expressway motorway to get home after a night out in Birmingham, UK, on Aug. 22, 2021. (CMPG/PA)
8/27/2021
Updated:
8/27/2021

A drunken e-scooter rider was stopped by police while using the motorway to get home after a night out in Birmingham.

Officers were alerted after the male was spotted on the busy Aston Expressway A38M heading northbound, away from the city centre, with police releasing footage of the incident as a warning to others.

At one stage in the video, released on Friday by the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG), the individual also appears to start walking the scooter along the middle of the seven-lane carriageway as cars zoom past at up to 50 mph.

At another point, the rider can be seen heading along the middle lane as a double-decker bus passes just a few feet away in the opposite direction.

The incident happened last weekend.

In a statement on Twitter, the CMPG said: “We are huge advocates of #modalshift (away from cars) and #ActiveTravel here at CMPG.

“But scooters and the like should never be on the network.

In June, West Yorkshire Police released video footage of a male on a private e-scooter attempting to join the M606 motorway in Bradford at 15 mph.

Private e-scooters can only legally be used in the UK on private land but are a common sight on roads and pavements.

West Midlands Police said earlier this year it had seized 106 e-scooters between January and June, and a further 14 more in Birmingham city centre during a one-day crackdown.

Voi e-scooters being trialled in Birmingham, Coventry, and Sandwell are legal on cycleways and roads, but not motorways.

By Richard Vernalls