New laws and powers for police needed to stop ‘highly dangerous’ e-bike scourge
Scotland's Justice Secretary Neil Gray has said a new licensing scheme for e-bikes and e-scooters should be considered as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour, telling MSPs that more "could and should and must be done" to help police track offenders and seize vehicles. The proposal follows growing complaints from MSPs, including SNP member David Linden, about groups of young men riding modified e-bikes and e-scooters while wearing face coverings, with concerns that some of this activity is linked to drugs and organised crime.
Gray, who said he has witnessed similar problems in his own Airdrie constituency, confirmed he would work with the UK Government, which controls vehicle regulation and licensing, on potential reforms. He has also asked Police Scotland whether officers need additional powers to deter and capture offenders, noting the issue spans off-road bikes and quad bikes as well as e-bikes and scooters, and linking it to wider concerns including football hooliganism, organised crime and online misogyny among a minority of young men. He said he hoped to update MSPs on progress in due course, and the UK Government has been approached for comment.
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Scotland's justice secretary, Neil Gray, is a Scottish National Party MSP who oversees policing and justice policy for the Scottish Government. He has been raising the idea of a licensing scheme for e-bikes and e-scooters, which are currently largely unregulated in the way that cars and motorbikes are, as one option for tackling anti-social use of these vehicles. Vehicle regulation and licensing are reserved matters controlled by the UK Government, so any change would need cooperation between Edinburgh and Westminster.
The concerns driving this stem from reports, including from MSPs such as David Linden, of groups of young men riding modified e-bikes and e-scooters, sometimes with faces covered, in ways described as intimidating or dangerous. Some of this activity has been linked by politicians to wider issues such as drug dealing and organised crime, though the scale and nature of that connection is not fully established. Police Scotland is the body responsible for enforcement, and Gray has asked officers whether they need extra legal powers to identify, deter and stop offenders.
This matters because it touches on several separate but related concerns: road and pavement safety, the ability of police to regulate fast-growing and largely unlicensed forms of transport, and broader worries about anti-social behaviour among some young men. Any new licensing or enforcement powers would affect not just those misusing these vehicles but the wider public who use e-bikes and e-scooters legitimately, making the balance between regulation and access a central question in how this debate develops.